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CHRIST LEAVING THE PRETORIUM FOR CALVARY. 




























Skepticism assailed; 

OR, 

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH; 

BEING 

A TRAINED LAWYER’S INVESTIGATION 


OF THE 

TRUTH OF THE BIBLE 

AND 

DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 


BY 

HON. BRITTON H. TABOR, 

Of the New York Bar. 

Introduction by 

REV. CHARLES H. PARKHURST, D. D., 

The Apostle of Reform. 

WITH THE 


Celebrated Essay on the Conversion of St. Paul, 

BY LORD GEORGE LYTTELTON, 

Late Chancellor of the Exchequer 
and Privy-Counsellor of 
Great Britain. 


PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED 

By Engravings from Paintings 
By the Great Masters. 




ST. LOUIS, MO.: 
PLANET PUBLISHING COMPANY. 




4-87 

3 S3 

^ ” 

'5 ' ; • - . 


r 



Copyright, 1S9H, 

By PLANET PUBLISHING CO. 
All rights reserved. 




DEDICATION. 


TO 

THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN MY INSPIRATION 
IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK, 

WHO HAS 

AIDED BY WISE COUNSELS, HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS 

AND 

IN THE LABOR OF COLLABORATING AND TRANSCRIBING, 

TO 

THE ONE WHO IS THE SUNSHINE OF OUR HOME: 

TO MY WIFE, 

Tl\i-s Volume i.s if\.scrifc>ec| u/itk <er\c|ere.st loVe, 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 


Oii) 



















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. 

































V 




































































































BIOGRAPHY OF BRITTOY H. TABOR. 



<HE subject of this sketch, and the 
author of Skepticism Assailed, was 
born on June 28, 1848, on a large 
plantation in Mississippi, about fifteen 
miles from Oxford, the University 
town of the State. Here he passed 
his boyhood and early manhood in 
the pursuits and pleasures incident to the sons of well-to-do 
planters of that time and section. 

In 1870 he entered the Law University at Athens, Ga., 
from which he graduated the following year, with honors. 
To the natural tastes of the young man, and the natural 
bent of his mind — for even in those early days it was con¬ 
ceded that he had been endowed by nature with abilities 
that pre-eminently fitted him for his chosen profession, 
being quick to weigh men and evidences, painstaking in 
gathering facts, and gifted with a wonderfully retentive 
memory — to these characteristics Mr. Tabor added the 
application and industry of a close student, and the 
genial, agreeable manners that distinguish so many 
Southerners. 

Admitted to the Bar in Mississippi, he practiced in that 
State for ten years, in the counties of Yalabusha and La¬ 
fayette, where his legal acumen and skill enabled him to 

(xi) 



BIOGRAPHY OF BRITTON II. TABOR. 


xii 

build up a lucrative business and win a host of warm 
personal friends. 

But a wider field was desired, and in 1881 he removed to 
Fort Smith, Arkansas. Here Mr. Tabor won for himself 
golden opinions from judges, juries, clients, friends and 
neighbors. He brought to the practice of the law not only 
an eagerness to excel in his chosen profession, hut also the 
desire that his acts should always be in accord with the 
higher principles of life. 

While at Fort Smith he was instrumental in organizing 
the American National Bank, one of the strongest financial 
institutions in that section of the country, of which he was 
elected the first president. But professional duties did not 
long permit him to retain this position, although he con¬ 
tinued as its legal adviser until his removal to this city. 

During his residence at Fort Smith, Mr. Tabor was so 
impelled by a desire to conclusively ascertain the truth of 
the supernatural as revealed in the Scriptures, and of 
Christ’s divinity, that he surrendered for a time his profes¬ 
sional duties, and removed with his family to a quiet con- 
tage home in Nashville, Tennessee, the seat of Vanderbilt 
University, where, having gathered a large library hearing 
on this subject, he secluded himself from friends and clients 
and bent every talent to a critical and exhaustive study of 
the authenticit} r of the Scriptures and the divinity of Christ. 
These questions were settled satisfactorily to his own mind, 
and then Mr. Tabor returned to the practice of law; but his 
leisure moments were passed in perfecting his arguments, 
and again and again traversing the field with which he had 
already so familiarized himself. Finally, and without such 


BIOGRAPHY OF BRITTON H. TABOR. xiii 

an idea having at the outset even presented itself to him, 
the lawyer found that the manuscript for a book was in his 
hands ; and yet he hesitated to send the volume forth. 

In November, 1892, Mr. Tabor, desiring to enter upon 
a more extended field of labor, removed to New York City, 
where he has since gained a lucrative practice. He is 
recognized here, as he was in the Southwest, as a man who 
carries his Christian convictions into his daily professional 
life. No lawyer has ever succeeded more perfectly and 
completely than has Mr. Tabor in convincing his clients 
that he always makes their cause his own. Before court 
and jury he is fearless, earnest and convincing. The prep¬ 
aration and trial of lawsuits have always been to him a labor 
of love, and through his personal magnetism, logic and 
persuasive power he has achieved great success. He is a 
man of genial manners, of rare attractiveness of person, and 
one who in his home and with his friends is at his best. 
For over twenty years he has been a faithful church worker, 
and since his residence in New York has connected himself 
with St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church, the faith 
in which he was educated. 

Edwin T. Taliaferro. 

New York. 







































I 






































































































































































































































BIOGRAPHY OF REV. C. H. PARKHURST, D. D. 


HERE had come into the New York 
Society for the Prevention of Crime, a 
few months before Rev. Dr. Howard 
Crosby died, one who was also a pastor 
of a Presbyterian church. He was 
scholarly, cultured, at the head of a 
rich congregation, but not otherwise prominent. This man 
was elected the successor of Dr. Crosby as President of 
the Society. The event attracted no special attention. 
Yet, within a few months, he stood revealed not merely as 
a gentle preacher, but as an agitator worthy to take rank 
with men who have made history. 

After graduating from Amherst College, young Park- 
hurst became an instructor in its preparatory school for 
two years. His associates prophesied for him a congenial 
career in the pulpit, combined with continued study. 
Here he found the young woman who became his wife, 
and they spent their honeymoon in Europe, where the 
young theologian continued his studies. On his return 
he was called to a church in Lenox, Mass., this being the 
beginning of his ministry. Around Lenox are clustered 
the country places of the most refined, cultured and con¬ 
servative New Yorkers, and life is most tranquil. No one 
would dream that amid such surroundings any man would 

(xvii) 














XViii BIOGRAPHY OF REY. C. H. PARKHURST, D. D. 

develop into a giant warrior, who should marshal his 
forces with a splendid energy to fight successful battles 
against prodigious odds. 

But his acquaintance with New Yorkers resulted in a 
call to the influential Madison Square Church. He came 
quietly, not creating a ripple. For years he pursued the 
even tenor of his way, appreciated affectionately by all 
who knew him. He was surrounded by the luxuries of 
the highest civilization and life was well nigh an idyl from 
a preacher’s standpoint. In his summer vacations he was 
able to visit Europe. But one quiet Sunday morning, 
instead of the usual sermon of pious aspirations and 
beautiful teachings, there appeared that suppressed ex¬ 
citement which results when a u sensation ” is made. 
The eloquence was that of a mighty emotion ; the rhetoric 
had behind it the conviction of truth; he stood there 
impeaching the political powers of the city, declaring 
them to be the chief criminals in the community, and 
accusing them of supporting vice and levying blackmail. 

The publication of this sermon the next day stirred the 
community as it had not been since the exposure of the 
Tweed Bing. At first it was regarded as only another 
“pulpit sensation,” a desire for notoriety, etc. But Dr. 
Parkhurst was aware that he must show he knew those 
things which he condemned, not merely by hearsay, but by 
contact, by actual experience; and so this gentle preacher, 
this man of books, with delightful surroundings, went forth 
to see with his own eyes even the most hideous of all the 
evils that prevailed. Therefore, when it was published 
that Dr. Parkhurst, with an officer of his Society and a 
member of his church, had entered such places and had 


BIOGRAPHY OF KEY. C. H. PARK HURST, D. D. 


XIX 


come into contact with the lowest depths of depravity, and 
was himself their witness in the court of justice, he gave 
the public conscience still another and mightier shock than 
even that occasioned from his pulpit. 

His own congregation somewhat revolted when the story 
of his experience was told. A portion of the press turned 
upon him with a sneer. But he stood the storm with 
patience and generosity, and was not swerved so much as a 
hair’s-breadth, lie had discovered within almost a stone’s 
throw of his own church the seats of vice, and had demon¬ 
strated their toleration by officials. What was now required 
was organization, requiring endurance and persistence. 
There was necessary the marshaling and control of men of 
ability in all ranks of life, the raising of funds, the repeated 
prosecution of criminals and abettors. 

Dr. Parkhurst found out conclusively that the open 
violation of the laws against liquor selling, gambling and 
worse establishments was because the authorities not only 
permitted it but encouraged it from the revenue derived. 
Having learned these things he went before his Society, 
demanded its support, and obtained it. But he had to con¬ 
tend with the most thoroughly organized political forces in 
America, which are well known to be intrenched in New 
York City. The country knows something of the power of 
Tammany Hall and its control over local and State govern¬ 
ment. He had to take the lead. Others, including even 
the newspapers, would only follow. His attack was not on 
the saloon, the gambling house and the dive, at first, but 
on the power which protected and levied tribute upon them. 
It was perhaps only after two years of labor and careful 
planning, that the community realized the discipline, the 


XX 


BIOGRAPHY OF REV. C. H. PARKHURST, D. D. 


skill, the discretion and the strategy of Dr. Parkhurst’s 
method of attack. People had even began to think the 
Parkhurst sensation was over. 

Suddenly he appeared before the Grand Jury. When it 
reported there were indictments against one police captain, 
and evidence had been offered tending to implicate supe¬ 
rior officials. Sworn testimony in abundance was furnished 
by him of unlawful resorts existing close by the station- 
house of this police captain, although that officer had de¬ 
clared that not a single place of the kind existed in his 
precinct. After this Dr. Parkhurst rushed the battle. His 
agents were everywhere. They scoured the city, getting 
testimony of scores and scores of open violations of the 
law committed daily under the eyes of the police. Instead 
of sneering and laughter there came fright and panic. 
Then there was running to and fro and shifting about of 
officers from one precinct to another. Stringent orders 
were issued for the suppression of vicious resorts, even to 
the extent of clearing out entire streets which had long 
enjoyed perfect immunity. 

In the general election which followed, the most impor¬ 
tant result was the triumph of a reform ticket which gave 
Xew York the best government it had had for decades. 
The superintendent of the police force resigned and there 
was a general overturning. 

Dr. Parkhurst has developed into a great general since 
he began this warfare. He has revealed executive ability of 
extraordinary quality, and it is to be hoped that he will live 
long to keep up and perpetuate the great work to which he 
has plainly been called by Divine Providence. 


PKEFACE. 


E SYSTEM of alleged divine revelation 
as set forth in the Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testament means everything or 
it means nothing. There is no conceiv¬ 
able room for a compromise position. 
This is so self-evident that it is inexpli¬ 
cable that in a period of so much earnest¬ 
ness of thought as our own there should 
be so considerable a number of intelligent 
people who suspend judgment upon the matter of the 
Bible’s claims to their intelligence and moral acceptance. 

My own interest in the volume to which these few para¬ 
graphs serve as a prefatory note is founded not only in its 
subject-matter, but in just the candid and deliberate way in 
which the author has interrogated the Scriptures, and has 
addressed himself to the two alternatives of acceptance and 
denial. In the midst of a busy professional life, he has 
taken time critically and thoroughly to investigate this all- 
important subject in view of the various skeptical theories 
that prevail, and for the final settlement in his own mind as 
to whether the Bible is a divine revelation or a human 
figment. 

So well has this work been done that the book will, I 
believe, prove a revelation to very many who have been 

(xxi) 





xxu 


PREFACE 


exceedingly anxious lest the foundations of their faith should 
be undermined, and who will be surprised at the unassail¬ 
able basis of reason for their most cherished faith in Christ. 

The author has brought to the Scriptures a spirit of 
sincere and deliberate inquiry, and has received, after 
exhaustive and independent research, an answer that thor¬ 
oughly satisfies his own mind, and that, too, a mind whose 
professional habit it is to estimate evidential values, and by 
the balancing of such values to attain definite conclusions. 

This volume is one more valuable illustration of the fact 
that the Bible is its own truest expositor and ablest advocate, 
and that the most thorough way of confronting the ques¬ 
tion of the Bible’s trustworthiness as a divine revelation is 
not to appeal to tradition nor to rely upon the verdict of 
contemporary experts, but to come into intelligent and per¬ 
sonal touch with the Scriptures themselves, and to allow 
them to work upon heart and intellect their own original 
and native effects. 

In view of the invincible array of evidence herein pre¬ 
sented, it would seem a thousand times harder not to believe 
in the divinity of Christ than to believe any theory of Him 
yet propounded by skeptics. 



PUBLISHERS’ INTRODUCTION. 


IS IS pre-eminently an age of 
reason. Every one claims not only 
the right to think for himself, but 
to believe only what to him seems 
credible. Under such circum¬ 
stances the investigator is apt to 
become more or less skeptical in 
regard to all matters not fully 
understood. With reference to religion it is assumed that 
if an All-Wise Creator of rational beings has for their 
benefit made a revelation of Himself through the instru¬ 
mentality of inspired prophets, as the Bible claims, then 
a rational and thorough investigation of the matter should 
reveal to every intelligent and conscientious mind unim¬ 
peachable and conclusive evidence of the fact. 

It is farther assumed that the All-Wise First Cause who 
designed man intended that he should not only exercise, 
but be governed by his reasoning faculties just as much as 
he should be guided by his sense of sight, taste or smell, 
and that we are under no obligation to accept or believe 
anything which our reason contradicts, after an investiga¬ 
tion of the available facts in the case. With reference to 
religious beliefs, it is assumed that there are millions of 
honest, intelligent and conscientious skeptics in all parts 
of the world who are to-day anxious to be able to decide 

(xxiii) 




XXIV 


publishers’ introduction. 


for themselves whether our Bible is a human figment or 
what it claims to be and whether Christ, the alleged ful¬ 
fillment of Messianic prophecy, was indeed God Incarnate 
or merely a man of exalted genius. 

The author of Skepticism Assailed is in sympathy with 
the rationalistic demands of the times, and believes that a 
religious system that cannot meet the most rigid tests 
which are required to establish any other contention is no 
more worthy of our consideration than any assumption not 
justified by unassailable facts that appeal to reason —that 
appeal to the head as well as the heart. He has critically 
examined, analyzed and weighed the various kinds of evi¬ 
dence bearing upon the alleged revelation of the super¬ 
natural in our Bible, and especially that in support of 
Christ as the alleged God Incarnate and the fulfillment of 
Messianic prophecy. Pre-eminently endowed by nature 
and by over twenty years’ phenomenal success in the trial 
of causes before judges and juries for the work in hand, 
he has diligently applied himself for seven years to the prep¬ 
aration of Skepticism Assailed, with the view of settling 
forever, if possible, and to the satisfaction of every intelligent 
reader, all doubts concerning the main features of this all- 
important question. The present and eternal consequences 
of such a settlement of the mind of each individual can 
hardly be measured in time or money; and yet the means 
of such settlement are so presented in this volume as will 
require for their acquisition by every one comparatively 
little of either time or money. The legitimate and ultimate 
fruit of such acquisition will be that peace of mind which 
passeth understanding. 


publishers’ introduction. 


XXV 


Unlike almost every other Biblical investigator, the 
author has been practically untrammeled by prejudice or 
environment, has ignored the dogmas and doctrines of the 
numerous creeds, and has addressed himself exclusively to 
the cold and logical facts that constitute the evidential 
features of the case, rather than to any species of senti¬ 
mentality. This book, as a review of the result of his 
labors, presents in the simplest language and in an attract¬ 
ive manner an array of unassailable and logical arguments 
that are overwhelmingly convincing and conclusive. 

Skepticism Assailed will prove interesting alike to Jew 
and Gentile, to the so-called heathen, atheist and infidel, 
as well as to Protestant and Catholic. It is believed that 
every intelligent and conscientious inquirer after truth who 
shall critically examine its pages, no matter what has been 
his previous faith or environment, will not only enjoy but 
appreciate the work far more than he could have believed 
possible before having read it. 

Many minds, while never for one moment doubting the 
existence of an intelligent and infinitely wise First Cause 
or Creator of the universe, have become absolutely con¬ 
firmed in the opinion that all religious systems are but 
human devices, employed by the rulers of the world 
primarily as a means of sustaining authority. 

It must be admitted that the greatest obstacle with 
which all Christian ministers have had to contend is skep¬ 
ticism, so that they have found it so difficult to success¬ 
fully combat unbelief from the standpoint of reason, that 
they have presented the religion of Christ as a subject of 
faith in the consciousness of each true follower of the 


XXVI 


publishers’ introduction. 


Master, rather than as a fact based upon evidences that 
appeal to reason. 

Skepticism Assailed is simple in language, colloquial 
in style, and earnest in purpose. It ignores all theological 
doctrines and dogmas upon which the numerous creeds 
are founded, and appeals to facts and testimony for a 
verdict. 

It is a book that no intelligent and conscientious per¬ 
son can critically read without unloading his skeptical 
burdens, without appreciating the Bible as never before, 
and without a wonderful inspiration to labor for the cause 
of Christ. Any skepticism which this book will not van¬ 
quish must be such as can exist only in defiance of indis¬ 
putable evidence. 

The engravings in this volume are faithful reproductions 
of paintings of the acknowledged great masters of Euro¬ 
pean art. The best works of Hofmann, Plockhorst, Dore, 
Dobson, Rembrandt, Yon Schnorr, Rubens and others 
have been collected, and are a religious art education in 
themselves. 



CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Man by Wisdom Cannot Know God — Introductory . . 35 

CHAPTER II. 

The Evidence of a Progressive Supernatural Revela¬ 
tion .76 

CHAPTER III. 

The Virgin Mother Story Sustained by the Evidence. . 112 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Credibility of the Biographers and Witnesses of 

Christ’s Superhuman Life Vindicated.182 

CHAPTER V. 

At the Moment of the Betrayal Judas Possessed Su¬ 
preme Confidence in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, 
and His Motives have been Misjudged.222 

CHAPTER VI. 

It is Evidentialy Clear that the “ Resurrection,” 
the Greatest of Alleged Miracles, is a Sacred 
Reality.256 


(xxvii) 






xxviii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VII. 

It is Evidentially Clear that Christ by a Supernat¬ 
ural Manifestation Invited Paul to Become an 
Apostle to the Gentiles. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

God’s Appearance to the Patriarchs, the Mosaic Au¬ 
thorship and the Divine Authenticity of the Pen¬ 
tateuch . 


CHAPTER IX. 

Christ the Perfect Realization of Messianic Prophecy — 
A Summary . 


CHAPTER X. 

Conversion of St. Paul, by Lord George Lyttelton. 



PAGE 

282 


311 


336 


415 





ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Christ Leaving the Pretorium for Calvary... Full Page iv 

Portrait of Britton H. Tabor, Esq.Full Page x 

Portrait of Rev. Chas. H. Parkhurst, D.D.. .Full Page xvi 
The Creation : “ Let There be Light! ” ... .Full Page 34 

Cain Slays Abel. 37 

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. .Full Page 39 

Noah Curses Canaan. 43 

Jacob’s Dream. 45 

Joseph Sold into Slavery,... 0 . .. 48 

Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brethren. 50 

The Cup Found in the Sack.Full Page 53 

The Burial of Joseph. 56 

Pharaoh’s Daughter Finds Moses.Full Page 59 

The Dream of Pilate’s Wife.Full Page 65 

Herod’s Slaughter of the Innocents at Beth¬ 
lehem .Full Page 71 

Messengers Appear to Abraham.Full Page 79 

The Journey Through the Wilderness.Full Page 83 

Burial of Sarah. 87 

Isaac Blesses Jacob. 89 

Selling the Children of Jewish Captives.Full Page 91 

Daniel in the Den of Lions.Full Page 97 

Daniel Touched by the Angel.Full Page 101 

The Shepherds Worshiping at Bethlehem. .Full Page 107 

(xxix) 





















XXX 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

The Preaching of John the Baptist. 114 

Child Life of Jesus at Nazareth. Full Page 117 

Levi Sitting at the Receipt of Custom. 121 

Jesus Drives out the Money-Changers.Full Page 125 

The Good Shepherd.Full Page 133 

Christ and the Erring Woman.Full Page 139 

Descent of the Spirit at Pentecost.Full Page 145 

A Family Scene in the East.Full Page 149 

Christ Blessing Little Children.Full Page 155 

lie Healed the Sick and Raised the Dead. .. Full Page 159 

Balaam and the Angel. 164 

John the Baptist Reproves Herod.Full Page 169 

Mary Anoints Jesus’ Feet.Full Page 177 

The Wise Men of the East Bringing Gifts.Full Page 185 

Jerusalem in the Time of Christ.Full Page 195 

Interior of a Jewish Synagogue. 201 

Christ Before Pilate.Full Page 207 

Jesus Knocks at the Door of the Heart. 211 

Return of the Prodigal Son. 215 

Christ Entering Jerusalem.Full Page 225 

Jesus Appears Walking on the Water to 

His Disciples.Full Page 231 

The Death of John the Baptist. 234 

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet. 236 

The Last Supper.Full Page 239 

Jesus Teaching the Disciples. 242 

Judas Bargaining with the Council.Full Page 245 

Christ Taken in the Garden of Getlisemane.Full Page 251 

The Suicide of Judas. 254 

On the Road to Calvary.Full Page 257 




























ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXI 

PAGE 

The Entombment of Christ.Full Page 2G5 

The Guard at the Sepulcher. 269 

Doubting Thomas Convinced.Full Page 271 

The First Easter Dawn.Full Page 277 

The Conversion of Saul. 284 

Paul Before Agrippa.Full Page 287 

Paul Leaves the Disciples at Ephesus... 291 

Elymas is Struck Blind.Full Page 295 

The Martyrdom of Stephen.Full Page 299 

Paul Writing to the Ephesians.Full Page 303 

Paul at Athens.Full Page 307 

Hagar’s Distress Believed. 312 

Jacob Serving for Bachel. 316 

Setting up Memorial Stones.-320 

Bahab Saves the Spies....Full Page 325 

The Meeting of Isaac and Bebekah. 329 

Abraham and Isaac Going Up to the Sacrifice. 332 

Jacob’s Family Comes to Joseph in Egypt. 337 

Christ in the Storm.Full Page 339 

The Angel Appears to Zacharias. 345 

The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. 348 

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman.Full Page 351 

The Sermon on the Mount.Full Page 355 

Jesus and the Tribute Money.Full Page 359 

Jonah Warns Nineveh. 364 

Jesus Bids Farewell to His Mother.Full Page 367 

Nicodemus Comes to Jesus by Night.Full Page 373 

The Youth of Jesus: Preparing to Go 

Up to the Temple.Full Page 377 

Jesus and the Doctors of the Temple.Full Page 383 
































XXX11 


illustrations. 


PAGE 

The Crucifixion.Full Page 389 

The Descent from the Cross.Full Page 395 

Jesus Dines with the Disciples After His Resurrection 399 

The Walk to Emmaus. 402 

The Good Samaritan. 404 

The Ascension of Christ.Full Page 407 

John’s Vision of the New Jerusalem.Full Page 411 

The River of Life.. 414 

Paul Before the King. 420 

Timothy Learning the Scriptures. 425 

Paul Conveyed to the Council. 431 

Paul Before the Council. 437 

Ananias Ministers to Paul. 450 

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 463 

Paul Preaching to the Gentiles.Full Page 473 

Peter Stricken with Remorse.Full Page 481 

St. Paul is Shipwrecked.Full Page 489 

Paul and the Viper. 495 

Paul Let Down in a Basket to Escape His 

Enemies.Full Page 501 

























Skepticism Assailed. 













THE creation: 


“LET THERE BE LIGHT 


! ” 




( 34 ) 

























































































































































































































SKEPTICISM ASSAILED. 


CHAPTEE T. 

MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

N considering the evidence revealed in 
nature of a designing being, Fenelon 
said : 

“How profound and wise must he be 
who makes worlds as innumerable as the 
grains of sand on the sea-shore, and who 
leads all these wonderful worlds without 
difficulty as a shepherd leads his flock.” 
Professor Peirce, the great mathema¬ 
tician, discussing the ideality in the physical sciences, 
speaking of nature, remarks: 

“ It is imbued with intelligent thought amazingly 
wrought in the unconscious material world.” 

When we consider the varied resources and manifest 
purposes of nature as exemplified in the blades of grass 
and budding flowers, in the rain and sunshine, seed-time 
and harvest, in the exhaustless soil and numerous mineral 
products, in the electric spark and roaring cataract; when 

(35) 







36 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


we consider the innumerable products of animate and in¬ 
animate creation that are subject to man’s control, and 
that have been made to contribute to his civilization ; when 
we consider man in his various relations — the adaptation 
of the sexes, rearing of offspring and social environments; 
and when we consider the kingdom of God as but a 
higher and broader field for the development and perfec¬ 
tion of the spiritual attributes here awakened, the existence 
of a preconceived plan and of a designing, intelligent 
Creator becomes manifest and overwhelming. 

As it is utterly impossible to critically think of a watch, 
a sewing-machine, or even of the most simple human con¬ 
trivance without attributing its origin to an intelligence 
that designed it, so it is impossible for any one to critically 
study the myriads of infinitely more complicated animate 
and inanimate products of nature without attributing their 
origin and design to an intelligent First Cause or to an 
infinitely wise Creator. 

The recognition of this intelligent and designing First 
Cause has been exemplified in the religious worship from 
prehistoric times of every people wherever found, in a 
more or less civilized or barbarous state. 

While God as the Creator is universally recognized in 
nature, the need of a supernatural revelation of His person¬ 
ality is as universally conceded. Said Solon : 

“ The minds of the immortals are altogether concealed 
from man.” 

Pindar, in discussing the subject, remarked: 

“ Why do you imagine that to be wisdom in which one 
man little excels another? For the councils of God can- 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


37 


not be scrutinized by the understanding of a man, the 
offspring of a mortal mother.” 



CAIN SLAYS ABEL. 

Xenophon declared that “Xo one has discovered any 
certainty or will discover it among the gods.” 










38 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


The illustrious Grecian philosopher, Plato, in confirming 
the same contention, said : 

“ It appears to me that to know them clearly in the 
present life is either impossible or very difficult.” 

Religious teachers and philosophers in all ages, in their 
hunger and thirst after knowledge of the gods, the origin 
of life and of man’s destiny, have despaired of ever obtain¬ 
ing any certain or definite information concerning these 
supreme subjects without the aid of a divine revelation. 
St. Paul, to whom God had revealed himself, found an 
altar at Mars Hill dedicated “ To the Unknown God,” and 
said to the Athenians, “ Whom therefore ye ignorantly 
worship, Him declare I unto you.” Again he said, “ The 
world by wisdom knew not God.” 

The golden age of all nations and tribes of people not 
illuminated by the light of the Bible has been in their 
infancy or in the remote past. The Greeks appealed to 
their ancestors who had lived in closer communion with the 
gods as their authority for what they believed and taught. 
Socrates speaks of “ a light of heaven, which, as I conceive, 
the gods tossed among men by the hands of Prometheus, 
and therewith a blaze of light; and the ancients, who were 
our betters and nearer to the gods than we, handed down 
these traditions to us.” 

The numerous African tribes believe that formerly heaven 
was nearer man than it is now; that the highest god, the 
Creator Himself, formerly gave lessons of wisdom to human 
beings, but that afterward He withdrew Himself from them 
and now dwells in heaven. 

The Hindus teach the same, and quote their ances- 


msmu 











































































































































































































. 








. 
















































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


41 


tors as authority for what they believe regarding the 
gods. 

The faith of the Greeks concerning the Golden Age is a 
reflex of common belief among all Gentile nations. Ac¬ 
cording to their tradition, in the early ages of the world 
God was the shepherd of men and ruled over them; life 
was free from care and pain; the seasons were temperate, 
the earth brought forth abundantly, and what work was 
necessary was only pastime and not toil. 

In striking contrast with the teachings of the Gentile 
nations from the earliest historic times, the Hebrew and 
Christian nations, accepting the teachings of the Bible as a 
revelation from God, have looked forward to the future of 
the Golden Age. 

The opening chapters of Genesis, in giving a highly 
figurative description of creation, represent sin, the curse 
of man, as a serpent; and in this connection the inspired 
prophet declared that “ the seed of the woman shall bruise 
the serpent’s head,” clearly meaning, when considered in 
connection with subsequent prophecies, that a child would 
be born of woman whose beneficent influence would check 
sin and elevate and bless the human family. 

The first recorded worship is the offering of sacrifices by 
Cain and Abel. History relates that Cain’s offering, which 
was the fruit of the ground, was rejected; but that Abel’s 
offering was of the firstlings of the flock and the fat thereof, 
and was accepted. 

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in discussing 
the offerings of Cain and Abel, said: 

Without faith it is impossible to please God. By faith 

3 


42 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than 
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, 
God testifying of his gifts; and by it, he being dead, yet 
speaketh.” 

It is related that after Cain had slain Abel and had been 
branded as a murderer, another son was born to Adam 
whom his mother named Seth. Scripture traces the 
descendants of Cain to the sixth generation, wherein the 
sinful tendencies of human nature were fully unfolded, after 
which it is silent regarding his posterity, it being the main 
purpose of the Scriptures to trace the history of the kingdom 
of God on earth. 

Seth and his descendants are described as having gathered 
around them those who followed after righteousness and 
called upon the name of the Lord. Seth’s son, Enoch, is 
said to have walked with God for three hundred years, and 
“was not, for God took him.” 

In the course of a few centuries thereafter man is repre¬ 
sented as having become exceedingly sinful and desper¬ 
ately wicked, and Noah only was found justified before 
God. This grieved God, and He repented that He had 
made man, and the decree went forth that the human 
race, except Noah and his family, should be destroyed by 
a flood. 

It is related that after the flood Noah built an altar unto 
the Lord and offered sacrifices thereon. Noah is repre¬ 
sented as a just man and perfect in his generation, having 
walked with God; hence it should not be a matter of sur¬ 
prise that we find recorded prophecies of Noah concerning 
the future history of his sons. Ham was not as reverential 


MAN IJY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 43 

toward his father as was Shorn and Japhet, and Noah 
prophetically declared that God would be with Shorn, and 



NOAH CURSES CANAAN. 

enlarge Japhet, but that Ham, the father of Canaan, would 
he their servant. 

This prophecy necessarily had reference to the seed and 



























































44 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and it has been sig¬ 
nificantly fulfilled. Biblical history records that Abraham, 
who was the seed of Shem and lived about the tenth gener¬ 
ation after Noah, in obedience to a command from God 
took his own and Lot’s family, left home, country and 
the remainder of his kindred, and went into the land of 
Canaan, where God appeared and entered into a covenant 
with Abraham to bless and prosper and make of him a 
great nation, and that through his seed the nations and 
families of the earth should be blessed. 

After Ishmael and Isaac were born unto Abraham, God 
renewed His covenant with him to bless through his seed 
the nations and families of the earth, declaring that the 
covenant would be fulfilled through the seed of Isaac, not 
through that of Ishmael; and that this work would be 
gradual and accomplished only after the lapse of many cen¬ 
turies; that in the meantime his seed would be carried into 
a strange land and there oppressed. He said: 

“ Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in 
a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they 
shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, 
whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall 
they come out with great substance.” 

Subsequent to Abraham’s death God renewed this cove¬ 
nant with Isaac. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. He 
prayed to God that the covenant might be fulfilled through 
the seed of Jacob. Jacob dreamed that a ladder reaching 
to heaven was set up, that angels of God ascended and 
descended upon it, and that the Lord, standing above, 
said; 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD 


45 


u I arn the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac , 
the land wherein thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy 



Jacob’s dream. 


seed, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
blessed.’ ’ 



























46 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


It is related that after Isaac’s death God appeared to 
Jacob, with whom he renewed this covenant, though with¬ 
out specifically designating which one of his twelve sons 
should be the favored one, as had been done in the cases of 
Abraham and Isaac; therefore, in its miraculous signifi¬ 
cance, the covenant was to be fulfilled through the seed 
of Jacob generally; and as a means of preserving their 
identity, it became necessary that he and his seed should be 
separated and removed from their increasing and multiplied 
relatives. 

In fulfillment of the prophetic announcement that Abra¬ 
ham’s seed would be strangers in a land not theirs, and as 
a means of separating the prophetic seed and of preserving 
them as a distinct people, Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, 
whose brothers were already jealous of him, farther in¬ 
creased this jealousy by relating two dreams, which were 
prophetic of his history in Egypt. 

In the first dream, Joseph and his brethren were in the 
harvest field, and Joseph’s sheaf stood upright, while those 
of his eleven brothers paid tribute to it. In the second, 
they were all attending to the flock, when the sun and the 
moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to him. 

Joseph related these dreams to his brothers, which so 
intensified their jealousy that they sold him to passing 
Ishmaelites, and represented to his father that he had been 
slain by wild animals. Joseph was carried into Egypt, 
and there sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s house¬ 
hold. 

Biblical history relates that God “was with Joseph,” 
and that he was prosperous. His master appointed him 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


47 


overseer over his house and over all that he had, and 
u the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s 
sake.” 

King Pharaoh dreamed two startling dreams that greatly 
troubled him, and none of the magicians or wise men of 
Egypt was able to interpret them. Pharaoh then sent for 
Joseph, to whom he said: 

“ I have dreamed a dream and there is none that can 
interpret it, and I have heard say of thee that thou canst 
understand a dream to interpret it.” 

Joseph replied : 

“ It is not in me ; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of 
peace.” 

i 

Pharaoh’s first dream was as follows: While standing 
on the bank of a river there came up out of the water seven 
fat animals, and afterward seven lean ones ; and the seven 
lean animals ate up the seven fat ones. 

In the second dream Pharaoh saw seven full ears of corn 
on one stalk, and seven ears blasted by the east wind sprang 
up after them; and the seven blasted ears devoured the 
seven full ears. 

Joseph interpreted the dream to mean that the seven fat 
animals and the seven full ears of corn represented seven 
years of plenty, but the seven lean animals and the seven 
blasted ears of corn represented seven years of famine that 
would immediately follow the seven years of plenty; and 
that God had shown this to Pharaoh that he might select 
a wise man who would, during the seven years of plenty, 
provide against the seven years of famine. 

Pharaoh, the magicians and wise men all agreed that 


48 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD 


Joseph’s interpretation was correct, and Pharaoh said unto 
him : 



JOSEPH SOLD INTO SLAVERY. 


“ Forasmuch as the Lord has shown thee all this, there is 
none so discreet and wise as thou art,” and he at once 
appointed him ruler over all Egypt. 

























































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


49 


The famine embraced the land of Canaan, and Jacob 
sent ten of his sons unto Pharaoh to buy corn, and when 
they reached the capital they found Joseph governor and in 
charge of the stores. The brothers approached Joseph and 
made obeisance. They did not recognize him, but he knew 
them and charged them with being spies. 

Denying the charge, they declared themselves to be 
twelve brethren, “ the sons of one man in the land of 
Canaan; and behold the youngest is this day with our 
father, and one is not.” 

Insisting that they were spies, Joseph committed them 
to prison; but finally agreed to permit them to prove 
their assertion : one of them he would keep as a hostage, 
and allow the others to go home and return with Ben¬ 
jamin, the younger brother, as a means of verifying their 
word. 

Perceiving their distress, Joseph turned from them and 
wept. It was agreed that Simeon should be held as a 
hostage for their return with Benjamin. The steward filled 
their sacks with corn, and they immediately went to their 
father’s house and reported what had occurred. In pursu¬ 
ance with the agreement, they returned to Egypt with 
Benjamin. 

Joseph asked: “ Is this your younger brother?” then 
turning to Benjamin he said: “ God be gracious to thee, 
my son.” 

His heart overflowing with joy and sympathy, he went 
into his chamber and wept; but after washing his face he 
returned and invited his brethren to dine with him. 

At Joseph’s command the steward filled their sacks 


50 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


with food, and placed Joseph’s silver cup in Benjamin’s 
sack. After they had departed the steward followed and 



JOSEPH REVEALS HIMSELF TO HIS BRETHREN. 


charged them with having stolen it. They bitterly denied 
the charge, and readily agreed to be searched. 




















































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


51 


The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, which so startled 
and overwhelmed them with grief that they rent their 
clothes and immediately returned to Joseph, each offering 
to become bound as slaves to him. 

Joseph replied, “ Only him in whose bag the cup was 
found.” 

Judah, one of the brethren, then approached Joseph and 
said: 

“ We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old 
age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is 
left of his mother, and his father loveth him. * * * It 

shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with 
us, that he will die.” 

Joseph then made himself known to his brethren amid 
such an exhibition of emotions that he was heard by the 
Egyptians. He then sought to comfort them, saying: 

“ I am Joseph • doth my father yet live? ” 

His brethren were so completely overcome by this unex¬ 
pected revelation that they were at first unable to reply. 
Joseph pathetically said : 

“ Come near to me. I am your brother whom ye sold 
into Egypt. Be not grieved, for God sent me forth to pre¬ 
serve life and you a posterity, so that now it was not you 
that sent me forth, but God. Haste ye to my father and 
say unto him that God has made me lord of all Egypt, and 
ye shall bring my father hither.” 

In the intensity of his joy, and with rekindled brotherly 
love, he kissed each of them, and it was heralded throughout 
Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brethren had come. 

Pharaoh received the information gladly, and at his sug- 


52 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


gestion Joseph provided his brothers with wagons and 
everything essential for their comfort, and sent them for 
.his father, their families, and all of Jacob’s seed, promising 
them the best in Egypt. 

On reaching their father, they informed him of all that 
had occurred; and when he saw the wagons, strongly 
corroborating their statements, he said: 

“It is enough ! Joseph, my son, is yet alive.” 

On their journey into Egypt God appeared to Jacob in 
a vision by night, and said: 

“ I am the God of thy fathers; fear not to go down into 
Egypt; I will go with thee and make of thee a great nation, 
and I will surely bring thee up again.” 

Jacob took with him all of his sons and daughters, and 
at the request of Pharaoh, Joseph placed them in pos¬ 
session of the rich and fertile land of Goshen, where they 
prospered and multiplied exceedingly. 

Jacob lived in Goshen seventeen years and then died. 
Joseph took his body with great pomp back into Canaan, 
and buried it with his fathers. 

Joseph’s brethren, fearing, after their father’s death, 
that he might be revenged toward them, fell down before 
him and prayed for forgiveness. 

Joseph replied: “ Am I in the place of God? but as for 
you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto 
good. * * * And he comforted them.” 

Joseph said: “ I die; and God will surely visit you, and 
bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to 
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” And Joseph took an 
oath of them that when they went from Egypt into the 


THE CUP FOUND IN THE SACK 


O* 

CO 







































































































































































































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


55 


land of Canaan they would carry np with them his bones. 
His body was embalmed, placed in an Egyptian colfin, and 
laid away. 

The Book of Genesis closes with an account of the burial 
of Jacob and the death of Joseph. The succeeding three 
and a half centuries passed with but limited information 
concerning the Hebrews in Egypt. The Book of Exodus 
opens with an inquiry into the covenants and prophecies 
regarding this people. 

As a means of separating Jacob’s posterity, that future 
generations might identify them as the lineage through 
which the families of the earth were to be blessed, they were 
disconnected from their relatives and surroundings and led 
into Egypt, where they developed into a distinct, prophetic, 
and mighty nation. 

In the beginning of Jacob’s journey, on the border line 
between Egypt and Canaan, the angel of the Lord appeared 
to him and said: 

“ Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make 
of thee a great nation.” 

After the lapse of three and a half centuries from the 
deaths of Jacob and Joseph, w 7 e are informed that in fulfill¬ 
ment of these covenants and promises, Jacob’s posterity in 
Egypt had “ increased abundantly, multiplied and waxed 
exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them.” 

During these centuries the proud and idolatrous Egyp¬ 
tians had progressed farther in learning and civilization than 
any other nation; and while the Hebrews were to some ex¬ 
tent contaminated by their idolatrous worship, yet of neces¬ 
sity they were benefited by their advancement in learning 


56 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


and civilization. It is, however, clear that they preserved 
by traditions a knowledge ol the God of Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob, and of the promises and covenants concerning 
their future history. 

The embalmed body of Joseph, laid away in an Egyp¬ 
tian coffin, together with the oath he had required of their 



THE BURIAL OF JOSEPH. 


ancestors, was no doubt a constant reminder to them that 
Egypt was not their abiding home, but that the covenants 
God had made with their fathers would be sacredly carried 
out. 

The prediction and promise made to Abraham, “ I will 
bring them up again with great substance/’ was yet to be 























MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


57 


fulfilled. The few centuries they were to remain as 
“ strangers in a land not theirs,” were drawing to a close, 
and there had risen up a king in Egypt who knew not 
Joseph; and fearing that if a war occurred between his 
people and any other nation, the Hebrews might join their 
enemies, he placed over them taskmasters, issued orders 
that every male child born should be cast into the river, 
and otherwise grievously burdened and oppressed them. 
Jochebed, a Hebrew woman, gave birth to a son, and to 
prevent the execution of this harsh decree, hid the child 
for three months, and then placed it in a little boat among 
the flags in the river, and left her twelve-year-old daughter 
to watch it. 

Pharaoh’s daughter, attended by her maids, went to the 
river to bathe, and there discovered the beautiful, weeping 
infant. Naturally it touched a tender chord in her heart 
and immediately inspired her sympathy. She recognized it 
as a Hebrew child. His sister immediately appeared on the 
scene, and proposed to Pharaoh’s daughter to bring a nurse 
for it. 

She replied: “Go!” 

And according to a preconcerted plan, the child called the 
babe’s mother, and when she arrived Pharaoh’s daughter 
said: 

“ Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will 
give thee thy wages.” 

By adoption the child became the son of Pharaoh’s 
daughter, and was named Moses. At an early age Moses 
was carried to the king’s palace, where he received every 
advantage of education and training, being taught with the 


4 


58 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


king’s sons amid all the glory and splendor of Pharaoh’s 
court. 

St. Stephen tells us that Moses was instructed “ in all the 
wisdom of the Egyptians.” In no country at that day was 
education so highly valued as in Egypt, and the Scriptures 
tell us that Moses became “ mighty in his words and 
deeds.” 

If Moses had so desired, he had before him in Egypt a 
career unsurpassed by that of Joseph’s; but before enter¬ 
ing upon it he was obliged to decide the great preliminary 
question whether he would cast his lot with the despised 
Hebrews — his own relatives, the people of promise — or 
with the splendor and glory of the Egyptian court. 

It is evident that Moses’ mother, who was a lineal de¬ 
scendant of Jacob, possessed strong faith in the God of 
Abraham and in the fulfillment of the covenants and prom¬ 
ises concerning his posterity, and that she had thoroughly 
imbued Moses’ mind with a knowledge of them and with 
the history of the Hebrew race, whose prophetic future was 
to culminate in a golden era. No doubt she had often 
called his attention to Joseph’s career and to the oath he 
had required of the Hebrews, that when they removed out 
of the land of Egypt they would carry with them his bones. 

Therefore, notwithstanding the proud and idolatrous 
court, the fame, glitter, and glory in which Moses had been 
reared, he preserved in his heart perfect loyalty to and sym¬ 
pathy with the Hebrews, the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. As conclusive evidence of this, we have the record 
of the slaying by Moses of an Egyptian whom he found 
cruelly abusing a Hebrew. 



























































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


61 


The king, hearing of this occurrence, became alarmed, 
and sought to kill Moses, who escaped into the land of 
Midian, where he married and for many years followed the 
life of a shepherd. 

The Scriptures tell us that while attending his flock near 
Mount Horeb, God, appearing in a flame of fire out of a 
bush, called Moses, and made known to him that He was 
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; that He had 
seen the affliction of His people in Egypt; had heard their 
cry, and had come to deliver them out of the hands of the 
Egyptians and bring them into the land of Canaan. God 
commissioned Moses to become their deliverer, which 
deliverance he accomplished with great triumph and 
glory. 

Moses led the Hebrews into the wilderness, where, under 
divine guidance for forty years, he trained and educated 
them to ignore idolatry and to worship the one true God, 
the God of their fathers, and prepared them to enter into 
the promised land. 

After Moses’ death Joshua was commissioned as their 
leader, and he immediately crossed the Jordan, made a suc¬ 
cessful attack upon Jericho, vanquished every foe, and vic¬ 
toriously took possession of Canaan, the land of promise. 

Commencing with this era, the covenant w T ith Abraham 
to bless through the seed of Isaac the nations and families 
of the earth was kept constantly before them as the select, 
designated people through whom it was to be fulfilled. 

The unprecedented history of this chosen nation from 
this period until the alleged divine incarnation conclusively 
demonstrates that they possessed a consciousness of their 


62 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


special relationship to God, and that they were being used 
as a beacon set upon a hill to direct the Gentile world to 
the worship of t*he only true God, the God of their fathers. 

Therefore, naturally, they became pre-eminently a nation 
of priests, prophets and teachers. Their entire literature, 
covering a period of more than one thousand years, was 
written by not less than forty different authors, embracing 
men of succeeding generations, and including kings, priests, 
prophets, statesmen, and herdsmen. In these writings we 
find a full and detailed history of this people, their political 
and religious regulations, and the history of noted influen¬ 
tial characters, together with the most inspiring prophetical 
utterances ever recorded. 

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the Old Testament 
literature was written by so many different persons and 
covered so many centuries, the idea of a coming divine 
Messiah and the establishment of a future kingdom of God 
pervaded all parts of it; and still more miraculous is the 
conceded fact that in the fullness of time a person appeared 
who claimed to be the Messiah, in whose person and life, 
and in the kingdom which He established, we fine real¬ 
ized t'he complete fulfillment and perfect ideal of these 
predictions, types, symbolic institutions, and the ardent 
anticipations that characterized the entire literature. 

There is, therefore, no more interesting question than 
whether Christ was the prophetic Messiah — God in Christ 
making a more perfect revelation of Himself to man. Our 
contention in the following chapters will be in maintaining 
the affirmative of this proposition. 

Mr. Ingersoll, in his attacks on Christianity in a recent 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


63 


lecture, has indulged in harsh criticisms of Christ’s char¬ 
acter and teachings. It is, however, a source of sweet 
comfort to the believers in Christianity that Mr. Ingersoll 
stands solitary and alone even among atheists and skeptics 
in the theories he advances. As conclusive evidence of 
which, we shall briefly review the unapproachable charac¬ 
ter and teachings of Christ as acknowledged by the most 
learned infidels and skeptics, as well as others. 

When Christ was arraigned before Pilate, the gover¬ 
nor’s wife sent him the following startling message: 

“ Have thou nothing to do with this just man, for I have 
suffered many things this day in a dream because of 
Him.” 

When Pilate saw that he could not appease the excited 
populace who were clamoring for Christ’s execution, “ he 
took water and washed his hands before the multitude, sav¬ 
ing, ‘ I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see ye 
to it!”’ 

Judas, the apostle who betrayed Christ, when he learned 
of his condemnation, cast at the feet of the priests the 
thirty pieces of silver received for his betrayal, saying: 

“ I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent 
blood.” 

Spinoza, the great Jewish philosopher, forcibly said : 

“ Christ was the temple of God, because in Him God has 
most fully revealed Himself.” 

Eousseau, the famous French philosopher, in discussing 
the superiority of Christ’s teachings as compared with 
those of the philosophers, said : 

“ I w iH confess to you that the majesty of the Scriptures 


64 


MAN B Y WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the Gospel has 
its influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our phi¬ 
losophers with all their pomp of diction: how mean, 
how contemptible are they compared with the Scriptures ! 
Yea, if the life and death of Socrates were those of a man, 
the life and death of Jesus were those of a God. Shall we 
suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction? Indeed, my 
friend, it bears no mark of fiction. On the contrary, the 
history of Socrates, which no one presumes to doubt, is not 
so well attested as that of Jesus Christ. The marks of its 
truth are so striking and inimitable that the inventor would 
be a more astonishing character than the hero.” 

F. Pecaut, the skeptical French author, in discussing the 
person of Christ, said : 

“ To what height does the character of Jesus Christ rise 
above the most sublime and yet ever imperfect types of 
antiquity! What man was ever known to offer a more 
manly resistance to evil? Where is such a development of 
moral power united with less severity? Was there ever 
one seen who made himself heard with such royal authority? 
And yet no one ever was so gentle, so humble, and kind as 
He. What cordial sympathy at the sight of misery and 
the spiritual need of His brethren ! And yet, even when 
His countenance is moistened by tears, it continues to 
shine in indestructible peace. In His spirit He lives in the 
house of His heavenly Father. He never loses sight of 
the invisible world, and at the same time reveals a moral 
and practical sense possessed by no son of the dust. In 
what great brilliancy and wonderful magnificence He 
appears to the eyes of the spirit which is open to wisdom! 











































































































































































































































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


67 


On our part we do more than esteem Him; we offer Him 
love.’’ 

Goethe, the most universal and the most highly culti¬ 
vated of the poets, who was an honest, serious doubter, 
said: 

“ I consider the gospels to be thoroughly genuine, for in 
them there is the effective reflection of a sublimity which 
emanated from the person of Christ; and this is as divine 
as ever the divine appeared on earth. * * * No matter 

how much the human mind may progress in intellect, real 
culture, in the science of nature, in breadth, in depth, it 
will never be able to rise above the elevation and moral 
culture of Christianity as it shines forth in the gospels.” 

Thomas Carlyle calls Jesus “our divinest symbol,” and 
farther says: 

“ Higher has the human thought not yet reached. A 
symbol of quiet, perennial, infinite character, whose signifi¬ 
cance will ever demand to be anew inquired into and anew 
made manifest.” 

Dr. Paulus, a rationalistic skeptic, in discussing the 
character of Jesus, said : 

“ Believe me, that I never look upon the Holy One upon 
the cross without sinking in deep devotion before Him. 
No, He is not a mere man, as other men. He was an 
extraordinary phenomenon, altogether peculiar in His 
character, elevated high above the whole human race, to 
be admired — yea, to be adored. Christ is a miracle, a 
meteoric stone which has fallen down between our two 
ages of the world.” 

David Fredrich Strauss, a follower of Dr. Baur, the 


68 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


founder of the Tubingen school of pantheistic or ration¬ 
alistic skepticism, who was a finished scholar, and a doctor 
of philosophy in Baur’s school, while discussing the divinity 
of Christ has been forced to admit as follows: 

“ If in Jesus the union of the self-consciousness with the 
consciousness of God has been real, and expressed not only 
in words but actually revealed in all the conditions of His 
life, He represents within the religious sphere the highest 
point, beyond which posterity cannot go — yea, whom it 
cannot even equal — inasmuch as every one who hereafter 
should climb the same height could only do it with the help 
of Jesus, who first attained it. As little as humanity will 
ever be without religion, as little will it be without Christ; 
for to have religion without Christ would be as absurd as to 
enjoy poetry without regard to Homer or Shakespeare. 
And this Christ, as far as He is inseparable from the high¬ 
est style of religion, is historical, not mythical; is an indi¬ 
vidual, no mere symbol. To the historical person of Christ 
belongs all in His life that exhibits His religious perfection, 
His discourses, His moral action, and His passion. * * * 
He remains the highest model of religion within the reach 
of our thought, and no perfect piety is possible without His 
presence in the heart.” 

Ernest Kenan, whom Mr. Ingersoll recently, in a bio¬ 
graphical sketch of his life, eulogized as one of the greatest 
skeptical philosophers of this age, in discussing the grandeur 
of Christ’s character and teachings, said: 

“ Jesus cannot belong exclusively to those who call them¬ 
selves His disciples. He is the common honor of all who 
bear a human heart. His glory consists not in being ban- 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


69 


ished from history: we render Him a truer worship by 
showing that all history is incomprehensible without Him. 
* * * Christ for the first time gave utterance to the 

idea upon which shall rest the edifice of everlasting religion. 
He founded the pure worship of no age, of no clime, which 
shall be that of all lofty souls to the end of time. * * * 

If other planets have inhabitants endowed with reason and 
morality, their religion cannot be different from that which 
Jesus proclaimed at Jacob’s well. The words of Jesus 
were a gleam in the thick night. It has taken eighteen 
hundred years for the eyes of humanity to abide by it; but 
the gleam shall become the full day, and after passing 
through all the cycles of error, humanity .will return to 
these Vords as to the immortal expression of its faith and 
its hopes. * * * Whatever may be the surprises of the 

future, Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will 
grow young without ceasing; His legend will call forth 
tears without end; His suffering will melt the noblest 
hearts; all ages will proclaim that among the sons of men 
there is none born greater than Jesus. 

The great skeptical historian, Lecky, in his history of 
European morals, differing widely with the theories recently 
advanced by Mr. Ingersoll, said: “ It was reserved for 
Christianity to present to the world an ideal character, 
which through all the changes of the eighteen centuries has 
inspired the hearts of men with an impassioned love, has 
shown itself capable of acting on all ages, nations, temper¬ 
aments, and conditions; has been not only the highest pat¬ 
tern of virtue, but the strongest incentive to its practice, 
and has exercised so deep an influence that it may be truly 


70 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


said that the simple record of three short years of active life 
has done more to regenerate and soften mankind than all 
the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of 
moralists.” 

Theodore Parker, in arguing against the total denial 
of the existence of Jesus, which no sane man ever 
ventured upon, supplies an argument against the partial 
denial: 

“Measure Jesus by the shadow He has cast into the 
world — no, by the light He has shed upon it. Shall we be 
told such a man never lived? The whole story is a lie? 
Suppose that Plato and Newton never lived. But who did 
their works and thought their thoughts? It takes a New¬ 
ton to forge a Newton. What man could have fabricated 
a Jesus? None but a Jesus.” 

Even Penan himself, unmindful of his theory in his “Life 
of Jesus,” Chapter XXXIII., page 367, says: ^ 

“ Far from having been created by His disciples, Jesus 
appears in all things superior to His disciples. They, St. 
Paul and St. John excepted, were men without talent or 
genius. Upon the whole, the character of Jesus, far from 
having been embellished by His biographers, has been 
belittled by them ” 

Goethe, in acknowledging the genuineness, credibility, 
and incomparable majesty of the gospels, makes the 
following truthful remarks: 

“ The mighty power of these books and their accounts 
have been tested and proved. They have overcome pagan¬ 
ism; they have conquered Greece, Rome, and barbarous 
Europe; they are in the way of conquering the world. 





































































































































































































































































MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


73 


And the sincerity of the authors is no less certain than the 
power of the books. We may contest the learning and the 
critical sagacity of the first historian of Jesus Christ, but it 
is impossible to contest their good faith. It shines from 
their works ; they believed what they said ; they sealed their 
assertions with their blood.” 

Theodore Keim, in discussing the character of Jesus, 
remarked: 

“ The person of Jesus is not only a deed among the many 
deeds of God, but the peculiar work, the specific revelation 
of God. * * * Christianity is the crown of the crea¬ 

tions of God, and Jesus is the chosen of God, His Image, 
His Darling, His World-guide and World-shaper in the 
history of mankind. He is the rest, and He is the fly-wheel 
of the history of the world.” 

Miss Frances Power Cobb, author of “ Broken Lights,” 
in discussing the present condition and future prospects of 
religious faith, while denying the divinity of Christ, 
declares: 

u One thing, however, we may hold with approximate 
certainty, and that is that all the highest doctrines, the 
purest moral precepts, the most profound spiritual revela¬ 
tions recorded in the gospels, were actually those of 
Christ Himself. The originator of the Christian move¬ 
ment must have been the greatest soul of His time, as of 
all time. * * * The view which seems to be the soul¬ 

fitting one for our estimate of the character of Christ is 
that which regards Him as the great regenerator of 
humanity. His coming was to the life of humanity what 
regeneration is to the life of the individual. This is 


74 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


not a conclusion doubtfully deduced from questionable 
biographers, but a broad, plain inference from the uni¬ 
versal history of our race. We may dispute all details, 
but the grand result is beyond criticism. The world 
has changed, and that change is historically traceable to 
Christ.” 

Notwithstanding Mr. Ingersoll’s unfounded criticisms, 
the life, character, and teachings of Christ will ever remain 
the noblest and most fruitful study of man. It is admitted 
even by those of other faiths that He was the greatest of 
teachers. The Mohammedan world spoke of Him as the 
Messiah, and acknowledged His superiority above all the 
prophets. The Hebrews almost universally express ad¬ 
miration for His lofty character and teachings. Intellects 
like those of Napoleon, Galileo, Kepler, Shakespeare, 
Bacon, Newton, and Milton “ set the name of Jesus 
above every other.” 

Napoleon, in discussing the divinity of Christ with Gen¬ 
eral Bertrand at St. Helena, said: 

“ I know men ; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a 
man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ 
and the founders of empires and t-he gods of other religions. 
That resemblance does not exist. There is between 
Christianity and whatever other religions the distance 
of infinity.” 

He then compared Christ with himself and with the 
heroes of antiquity, and showed how Jesus far surpassed 
them all. 

“ I think,” said Napoleon, “that I understand somewhat 
of human nature; and I tell you all these were men, and I 


MAN BY WISDOM CANNOT KNOW GOD. 


75 


am a man, but not one is like Him. Jesus Christ was more 
than man. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself 
founded great empires, but upon what did the creations of 
our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded 
His empire upon love, and to this very day millions would 
die for Him.” 



CHAPTER II. 


TIIE EVIDENCE OF A PROGRESSIVE SUPERNATURAL 
REVELATION. 


IIRISTIANITY is unlike all other 
religions. It is not a compila¬ 
tion of purely dogmatic state¬ 
ments, nor an embodiment of 
truths elaborated by its found¬ 
ers, teachers and leaders. The 
essence of Christianity is found 
in its historic life, in the gradual 
unfolding of the divine on the sphere of the human. 

In these several particulars the Christian religion pre¬ 
sents a marked contrast with all other moral and religious 
systems. As a plant, it has grown and developed through 
the centuries in successive stages, in analogy with the 
modern theory of continuity in nature. 

No truth is more capable of verification than that the 
several parts of the Bible were not only the work of dif¬ 
ferent authors, but that they were in some instances 
written at intervals of one or more centuries, and are 
linked together by a series of progressive revelations, 
each having grown out of that which preceded it without 
a break in the chain of continuity. 

( 76 ) 




EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


77 


As doubt and confusion have been created by the vari¬ 
ous creeds and systems of theology that have been pre¬ 
sented by the different Christian denominations, it is of 
the greatest importance that we keep before us the fact 
that there is a marked difference between Christianity as 
a divine revelation, and Christianity as a theology formu¬ 
lated out of its data and teachings as presented in the 
several conflicting creeds. 

In the following pages we undertake to demonstrate 
that Christianity is a divine revelation, and that it has 
been gradually revealed to man as he has advanced in 
civilization and the capacity to comprehend it. In its 
beginning Christianity was not presented to all nations 
alike; but God, appreciating the task that He had under¬ 
taken in educating the human family against the pernicious 
effects of idol worship, and in attracting their attention to 
the supreme importance of worshiping the one true God, 
selected Abraham and entered into a covenant with him 
to bless the nations and families of the earth through the 
seed of Isaac. 

This view is sustained not only by the authors of the 
various books of the Old Testament, but by those of the 
New Testament as well — by the teachings of Jesus Christ 
and by the progressive light that has emanated from them. 

St. John affirms that “ In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
The same was in the beginning with God. All things 
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything 
made that was made. In Him was life, and this life was 
the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, 


78 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


and the darkness comprehended it not. * * * And 

the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we 
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father.” 

Jesus Christ, in declaring His pre-existence and divinity, 
said: “Before Abraham was, I am.” And in referring 
to the progressive light and energizing effect of His life, 
He compared His work, influence, and kingdom in its 
beginning to a mustard-seed, saying in substance that it 
would gradually embrace all nations, and that in its tri¬ 
umphant progress, peace and righteousness would Anally 
be achieved. 

In presenting the evidence that sustains this contention 
we shall not enter into any extended discussion of the 
Christian theory of the plenary inspiration of the Bible. 
Neither shall we undertake to show that, notwithstanding 
it was written by imperfect and fallible men, it is abso¬ 
lutely free from any inaccuracies or historical errors; nor 
whether as a matter of fact the sun and moon obeyed 
the command of Joshua; whether a fish, by divine direc¬ 
tion, rescued Jonah from the perils of the sea, or whether 
he was rescued by some other intervention. The truth or 
falsity of these questions does not materially detract from, 
affect, or impair the evidential force of the argument that 
maintains Christianity as a divine revelation. 

Nor is this argument affected by the question as to 
whether Moses wrote the Pentateuch in its present form, 
or whether subsequent to his death it was compiled from 
his teachings and from other sources; whether the Book 
of Daniel was written by the prophet Daniel or by some 



MESSENGERS APPEAR TO ABRAHAM 


( 79 ) 















































































































• • 




- ■ 














































* 
























. 

. ■ 




. 






















EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


81 


one who succeeded him; whether the writings of Isaiah 
were composed at different times — one part at an earlier, 
and the other at a later date. 

Neither singly nor combined are these or any of the 
other similar questions that have so long worried theo¬ 
logians of any special importance in settling the question 
of all questions, whether Christianity in its growth and 
progress is or is not a divine revelation. 

The ascertainment of the truth of these disputed and 
vexed questions is undoubtedly of special interest to the 
theologian, but in tracing the evidence that maintains 
Christianity as a divine revelation these questions are of 
minor importance. 

In the beginning of this discussion, we may concede 
that it would be impossible to inspire universal faith in 
the Old Testament history as maintaining conclusive proof 
of a supernatural revelation if we disconnect it from the 
evidential force of the New Testament or from the divinely 
attractive life of Jesus Christ, and the great influence and 
mighty effect which it has had in molding the civilization 
of man. 

We, however, urge that, when the combined evidential 
force of the Old Testament is considered in connection with 
the New Testament and with the energizing moral force 
that has sprung from Christ’s life, we shall have developed 
an invincible chain of evidence that conclusively establishes 
Christianity as a divine revelation. 

Beginning with God’s covenant with Abraham to bless 
the families of the earth, we shall trace Him at work 
through the centuries without a break in the chain of 
evidence. 


82 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis it is stated that God 
informed Abraham his seed would be carried into a strange 
land and there remain for four generations. This implies, 
when read in connection with other covenants and conver¬ 
sations with Abraham, that the work of blessing the fami¬ 
lies of the earth would not be attained in one generation, 
but would be accomplished by a more gradual revelation, 
in harmony with the operations of the other progressive 
laws of nature. 

It is alleged that after Abraham’s death God said to 
Isaac: “ I will perform the oath which I swore unto 

Abraham thy father. * * * In thy seed shall all the 

nations of the earth be blessed.” 

To Jacob, the son of Isaac, He said: “ I am the 
Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of 
Isaac. * * * In thy seed shall all the families of the 

earth be blessed.” 

History informs us that the seed of Isaac was carried 
into proud and idolatrous Egypt, and there remained for 
four generations; that God appeared in a flame of fire out 
of a bush and said: u Moses, Moses, * * * draw not 

hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground. * * * lam the 

God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob. * * * I have surely seen the 

affliction of My people which are in Egypt, * * * and 

1 am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the 
Egyptians. * * * Come, now, therefore, and I will 

send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My 
people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 



THE MARCH THROUGH THE WILDERNESS 


( 83 ) 







































































«... :*:• 

































* 












































































































































EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


85 


Moses replied: “ Who am I, that I should go unto 
Pharaoh? ” 

God answered : “ Certainly I will be with thee. * * * 

Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, 
and I will bring you out from under the burden of the 
Egyptians, * * * and j w \\\ re d eem you with a 

stretched-out arm, and with great judgments; and I will 
take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a 
God, * * * and I will bring you unto the land con¬ 

cerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to 
Isaac, and to Jacob.” 

It is alleged that Moses led the Hebrews to Sinai, where, 
under divine guidance, he educated them to cease the wor¬ 
ship of idols, and to worship the God of their fathers; that 
God gave to him the Ten Commandments, and inaugurated 
sacrificial worship; that Moses for forty years instructed 
this people, and that after his death, Joshua, Manoah, Gid¬ 
eon, Samuel, David and others in successive generations 
during the development of the Old Testament dispensation 
appeared and claimed to be divinely called prophets and 
teachers. 

Skeptics, however, to avoid the evidential force of this 
history, have denied its truth; but these denials are con¬ 
fronted with the cogent facts that this nation had perfect 
faith in the sincerity of these prophets and their teachings, 
and with the farther fact that if there had been any collusion 
in this alleged revelation and in the testimony of these wit¬ 
nesses, or if their testimony had been false, it could easily 
have been detected and exposed. 

The faith of this people for centuries, when fraud and 


86 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


imposition would have been easily detected and collusion 
was impossible, raises a strong presumption in favor of the 
truth of this alleged history of God’s dealings with this 
nation; besides, the Bible contains other internal evidence, 
that, when applied to subsequent and admitted history, 
confirms the testimony of these many witnesses. 

It relates prophecies concerning Ishmael and Isaac, and 
events that were to occur in the future, that subsequent 
history, by a rellex evidential force, fulfills and sustains. 
The result of these prophecies could not have been foreseen 
by human intelligence without divine aid. It is evidentially 
clear that the alleged covenant and promise concerning 
Ishmael and Isaac had reference to their posterity as much 
as it did to them. 

The angel of the Lord said to Ilagar: “ Return unto thy 
mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. * * * I 

will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be num¬ 
bered for multitude. * * * I will make Ishmael a great 

nation.” 

When God entered into His covenant concerning Isaac 
that disinherited Ishmael, Abraham prayed to God, saying: 
“ O that Ishmael might live before Thee ! ’ ’ 

God answered: “ As for Ishmael, I have heard thee. 
Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and 
will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he 
beget, and I will make him a great nation.” The Lord 
directed Abraham to grieve not, but do as Sarah had com¬ 
manded, “ for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also 
of the son of the bondswoman will I make a nation, because 
he is of thy seed.” 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 


87 


When these different covenants and promises are con¬ 
strued in connection with each other, it is clear that they 



BURIAL OF SARAII. 


had special reference to IshmaePs posterity; and four thou 
sand years of unbroken history confirms their truth. 

































88 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


Ishmael and his immediate descendants lived in a tribal 
relation in tents and huts. He was circumcised at thirteen 
years of age, and his children and their children have con¬ 
tinuously followed the same example. He had twelve 
sons, each of whom became rulers of different tribes. 
They have always lived in tribes; they were bound to¬ 
gether in the most sacred confederacy; they have main¬ 
tained their independence, and as a nation have never been 
conquered, while the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, 
Phoenicians, Greeks, Homans, Medes, Persians, and all 
other nations and empires that came into existence during 
the development of the Old Testament dispensation have 
perished, dissolved, and passed away before the advancing 
armies and powers of other nations, and are to-day known 
only in history. Ishmael 5 s seed have developed in num¬ 
bers as the stars of heaven, and into a mighty nation 
which has been protected, as it would appear, by strong 
supernatural intervention. 

When these prophecies concerning Ishmael and his pos¬ 
terity and their confirmation are considered in connection 
with the covenant to bless the nations and the families of 
the earth through the seed of Isaac, which striking promise 
has been fulfilled, the evidence becomes morally conclus¬ 
ive. In the light of history, the skeptic admits: 

That Christ by lineal descent sprang from the seed of 
Isaac, and that His extra-human life, teachings, and influ¬ 
ence have done more to elevate, refine, and bless humanity 
than all the other combined influences and teachings of 
earth; that He is to-day regarded as the greatest historical 
character the world has ever produced ; that no history of 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 


89 


any civilized nation for centuries has been written without 
Christ’s religion figuring in it more extensively than any 
other influence. 



ISAAC BLESSES JACOB. 


Christ has entered into history, into legislative enact¬ 
ments, into arts, music, poetry, sculpture, painting, and 











90 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


philosophy, and into the hearts and brains of more men, 
women and children than any and all other characters that 
have ever existed. Wherever He and His influence have 
penetrated, the human family has been refined, elevated 
and blessed. 

The reflex evidential force of these admissions and 
established truths sheds a halo of light and glory upon 
these alleged prophecies and this history. Especially is 
this true when the evidence is considered in connection 
with Christ’s solemn declarations that He is the “ only 
begotten Son of God;” that “ Before Abraham was, I 
am. * * * Abraham saw My day and was glad.” 
This means that He, Christ, had existed prior to Abra¬ 
ham, and that Abraham had been informed of His dis¬ 
pensation as God incarnate, who would bless and elevate 
humanity. 

How did Abraham see Christ’s day and rejoice? The 
narratives are meager, but they tell us that God appeared 
to Abraham on several occasions and conversed with him 
concerning this matter. When these narratives are read in 
the light of history, it becomes clear and manifest that the 
angel of the Lord often talked concerning these matters 
not only with Abraham, but also with Isaac, Jacob, Moses, 
and others. 

The evidence to this effect is clear when it is considered 
in the light of Jacob’s prophecy declaring that “ the scepter 
will not depart from Judah, nor her lawgivers from between 
her feet, until the coining of Shiloh, and unto him shall the 
gathering of the people be.” 

In the interpretation of this remarkable prophetic utter- 



CHILDREN OF 


SELLING 


THE 


JEWISH CAPTIVES 


( 91 ) 































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































• 























































































. 



































. . 




. 




t 












EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


93 


ance it is essential that we bring to our aid a few admitted 
historial facts: 

First. The word “ Shiloh” means peace; and Christ, the 
coming Messiah, was prophetically referred to in the Old 
Testament as the “ Prince of Peace.” 

Second. It is an admitted fact that the tribe of Judah 
was not entirely deprived of her scepter and lawgivers until 
after Christ’s appearance and the destruction of Jerusalem 
by Titus, which latter event occurred about forty years 
subsequent to the crucifixion. 

In view of these undisputed facts, it is evident the 
prophet’s meaning was that the scepter would not depart 
from Judah, nor her lawgivers from between her feet, until 
the coming of Christ, the “ Prince of Peace.” The proph¬ 
ecy is meaningless unless this interpretation is correct. It 
was uttered more than two thousand years before Christ’s 
appearance, and its perfect fulfillment, when weighed in 
connection with the other facts herein referred to, raises a 
strong presumption that God did appear to and converse 
with the patriarchs, as related. 

The evidence confirming the truth of these records, cov¬ 
enants, and promises continues in its cumulative force. 
Moses claimed that he talked with and was personally in¬ 
structed by God. These are awful assertions; yet we sub¬ 
mit that no reasonable, unprejudiced man can read his 
prophecies, that give with accuracy and minuteness the 
history, to occur centuries afterward, of this race and 
nation of people, and doubt any claim that he asserted con¬ 
cerning his personal contact with God. 

In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy is related 


94 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


an account that Moses gave in calling the attention of this 
people to the consequences that would follow their disobe¬ 
dience. He prophetically said: 

“Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh 
of thy sons and of thy daughters. * * * The tender 

and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure 
to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness 
and tenderness, * * * for she shall eat them for want 

of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith 
thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.” 

This wonderful prophecy was fulfilled in the siege of 
Jerusalem by Titus. Josephus, in giving an account of it, 
tells of parents eating their children, and of a noble woman 
who was rich and delicate killing and eating her suckling 
child. In Josephus' account of this woman, he says, when 
she had boiled and eaten half of it, she covered it up and 
ate the rest for another meal. 

Moses said: “ Ye shall be left few in number, whereas 
ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude.” Josephus, 
in his account of this siege, says: “ An infinite multitude 
perished by famine, and of the great number who had 
assembled in Jerusalem more than a million were de¬ 
stroyed.” 

In Deuteronomy xxviii, 68, Moses prophetically de¬ 
clared : “ And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again 
with ships, * * * and there ye shall be sold unto your 

enemies for bondmen and bondwomen.” 

It is related by Josephus that, when Jerusalem was taken 
by Titus, the captives over seventeen years of age were 
carried in ships to Egypt and were bound there at work — 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


95 


those under this age were sold; blit so little care was taken 
of them that eleven hundred thousand perished for want of 
food. Others were sold, with their wives and children, at 
the lowest prices, there being many to be sold and but few 
purchasers. 

Again Moses said: “ And it shall come to pass that as 
the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply 
you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and 
to bring you to naught; and ye shall be plucked from off 
the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord 
shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the 
earth even unto the other.” “ And thou shalt become an 
astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations 
whither the Lord shall lead thee. * * * And yet, for 

all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will 
not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy 
them utterly and to break My covenant with them; for I 
am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remem¬ 
ber the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth 
out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I 
might be their God; I am the Lord.” 

This startling prophecy is being fulfilled to-day to the 
letter, confirming Moses’ testimony to the effect that God 
had called him to lead and instruct His people. 

Continuing this prophetical description, Moses said that 
notwithstanding these afflictions God would not utterly 
forsake and destroy them because of His covenant which 
the Lord their God had made with Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob. 

In confirmation of this ancient prophecy, God’s chosen 


96 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


people, the Hebrews, fled in haste from Judah, the prom¬ 
ised land, and were scattered throughout every nation of 
the earth, and during all succeeding centuries they have 
been looked upon as a by-word, a proverb, an amazement 
and a reproach; yet as a people they have miraculously 
preserved their identity and nationality. 

In this and other prophecies and declarations we have 
strong evidence that sustains the theory that this race of 
people has been blessed by divine guidance and protection. 
From a financial standpoint, the Hebrews have exhibited 
more thrift and prosperity, according to numbers, than 
any other race of people; and in comparison with other 
nationalities, proportionately fewer of them have committed 
suicide or been hung, or have been convicted and sent to 
the penitentiary, or have become inebriates, beggars, or 
tramps; and fewer of their women have fallen. 

While it is true that they have not generally accepted 
Christ’s teachings as to the universal fatherhood of God 
and the brotherhood of man, yet between themselves they 
exhibit many beautiful acts of charity and self-sacrifice. 
They are indeed brothers to each other in hours of adver¬ 
sity and affliction. 

It is an uncontroverted fact that they have been scat¬ 
tered in fulfillment of this prophecy; as they have jour¬ 
neyed through the world they have been living witnesses 
to the fact that there is but one God, the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, and that all idol worship is debasing and 
corrupting. 

Among the Gentile world they have stood firm and 
unshaken, as a beacon pointing from idolatrous worship 


DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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EVIDENCES OE PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


99 


to the worship of the one true God, the God of their 
fathers. God has not forsaken and utterly destroyed 
them. And if the Christian world would, in a spirit of 
charity, extend to them the olive branch of peace, many, 
if not all, would accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. 

Not only Moses, but David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel 
and other prophets, who claimed to have been divinely 
called instructors to aid in educating 1 this people in the 
work of a supernatural revelation, present strong evidence 
to confirm their testimony. 

After God’s covenant with Abraham, this nation looked 
forward with bright hopes and ardent anticipations to the 
coming of a “ Messiah.” The Messianic prophecies cover 
a period of over fifteen centuries. The dying Jacob 
looked forward to a coming Shiloh, the Prince of Peace. 
Balaam sings of a coming star out of Jacob and a scepter 
out of Israel, David, Isaiah, and other prophets describe 
the coming of a “Messiah” in the form and likeness of 
man, whose reign of universal peace would be perpetual in 
blessing the families of the earth. 

When all of these prophecies are considered in their com¬ 
bined evidential force, it will be seen that they describe in 
minute detail Christ’s birth, birthplace, divine life, charac¬ 
ter, teachings, triumphant death and glorious resurrection. 
They give a perfect picture of His life history as we have 
it portrayed in the New Testament, which was written not 
less than two hundred years after the Old Testament proph¬ 
ecies had ceased, and more than two thousand years after 
they had commenced. 

In the second Psalm, we have the Immaculate Conception 


100 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


and the birth of Christ referred to ; then a “ Son ” “ begot¬ 
ten;’’ the heathen given to Him ,for His possession, and 
kings’ and kingdoms’ attention called to Him as the Son of 
God. 

In the forty-fifth Psalm, Christ, His coming and reign, 
are characterized and described as a divine King, reigning 
among men and blessed by God forever. “For He is thy 
Lord, and worship thou Him. * * * I will make Thy 

name to be remembered in all generations; therefore, shall 
the people praise Thee forever and ever.” 

In the seventy-second Psalm, His life-work and the extent 
of His kingdom is given : “ He shall have dominion also 
from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth. * * * His name shall endure forever : His name 

shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be 
blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.” 

In the third chapter of Malachi, the prophet declares that 
the word of the Lord came unto him, saying: “Behold, I 
will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way 
before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly 
come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant, 
whom ye delight in. Behold, He shall come, saith the 
Lord of hosts.” 

Isaiah the prophet said : “ Comfort ye, comfort ye My 
people, saith your God. * * * The voice of Him 

that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our 
God. * * * And the glory of the Lord shall be re¬ 
vealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of 
the Lord hath spoken it.” 



DANIEL TOUCHED BY THE ANGEL 


(101) 













































































































































































































































































* 





















' ■ 






















EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


103 


When these prophecies are read in the light of John the 
Baptist as a voice in the wilderness declaring the kingdom 
of God at hand, and also of his introduction of Christ as 
the “only begotten Son of God,” whose “shoe’s latchet” 
he was “not worthy to unloose,” the fitness, fulfillment 
and evidential force of these prophecies become sacredly 
manifest. 

In the seventh chapter of Isaiah, the prophet, in refer¬ 
ring to the Immaculate Conception, says: “Behold, a 
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His 
name Immanuel,” meaning God with us. And in the 
forty-ninth chapter, in declaring what the Lord had said 
unto him, he said: “Listen, O Isles, unto me; and 
hearken, ye people, from afar; the Lord hath called me 
from the womb; from the bow^els of my mother hath He 
made mention of my name. * * * And said unto 
me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be 
glorified .” 

The prophet Micah says: “But thou, Bethlehem Eph- 
ratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be 
ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, 
from everlasting.” 

This unprecedented reference to Him as one “ whose 
goings forth had been from of old, from everlasting,” con¬ 
firms what Christ said of Himself: “lam before Abraham 
was.” Micah not only gives Bethlehem as Christ’s birth¬ 
place, but announces that He shall “be great unto the ends 
of the earth.” 


104 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


In characterizing the works of the Messiah, Isaiah, the 
great prophet, said: 

“ The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of 
the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man 
leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” 

The evidential force of this prophecy in the light of 
Christ’s life cannot be overestimated. Isaiah, Daniel, 
Malachi and others describe Him as coming in the form and 
likeness of man, but being Lord and God, and bringing 
with Him peace and righteousness. 

In the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah we have a review of 
the object of Christ’s life, His sufferings, crucifixion, and 
the triumphant issue in His death, referring no doubt to 
His glorious victory in bursting the shackles of death and 
in declaring Himself to be the resurrection and the life. 
The great prophet said : 

“ Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm 
of the Lord revealed? Surely He hath borne our griefs. 
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not 
His mouth ; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and 
as a sheep before His shearers is dumb, so He openeth not 
His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judg¬ 
ment; * * * He was cut off out of the land of the 
living ; for the transgression of My people was He stricken. 
And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich 
in His death ; because He had done no violence, neither 
was any deceit in His mouth. * * * He shall see of 

the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” 

In the twenty-second Psalm, Christ’s exclamation, “ My 
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me! ” is given. 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


105 


In the sixteenth Psalm we have this language: “ For 
Thou wilt not leave My soul in hades; neither wilt Thou 
suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.” 

The literature of the Old Testament contains over three 
hundred well-defined prophecies describing the coming and 
character of a Messiah and the establishing of a future 
kingdom of God. Our contention is that in Christ Jesus 
and His accomplishments we have the full prophetical con¬ 
ception of such a Messiah and kingdom completely and 
literally realized. 

This realization confirms the testimony and assertion of 
each of the prophets that they had been divinely called, and 
that their teachings were inspired by the Lord. In the dis¬ 
cussion of this question we are not unmindful of the earnest 
debate that has been and still is going on as to the date and 
authorship of the Pentateuch and other books of the Old 
Testament. 

These questions, however, cannot possibly affect the 
evidential value of the prophetic argument, for the con¬ 
clusive reason that it is universally conceded that the Pen¬ 
tateuch, which contains many of the Messianic prophecies, 
had been in existence and recognized many centuries — 
at least from the date of Jeremiah or the reign of King 
Josiah — without any possible change, until the advent of 
Jesus Christ. 

It is also conceded that several other books of the Old 
Testament, with their present contents, were in existence 
prior to 600 b. C., and that the entire Old Testament 
Scriptures as we now have them had been completed prior 
to 180 b. c. 


106 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


Therefore, in considering the evidential force of this 
argument, the only questions that can possibly be involved 
are: Do the Old Testament Scriptures contain clear and 
explicit predictions of a coming Messiah and of the estab¬ 
lishment of His kingdom, and are these predictions realized 
in the person, work, and Church of Jesus Christ? If so, 
the inevitable conclusion must be that Christ is the pro¬ 
phetic Messiah, and that Christianity is a divine revelation. 

It is an uncontroverted fact that the Old Testament, 
which we hold in our hands and can examine for ourselves, 
contains many such prophecies. It is no less an admitted 
fact that several centuries after the utterance of these 
prophecies a spiritual kingdom, differing in influence and 
character from all earthly institutions, was actually inau¬ 
gurated with Jesus Christ as Author, Ruler, and King; 
and it is admitted that this spiritual kingdom for eighteen 
centuries has exerted the most potent and beneficent 
influences that have ever operated on the civilization of 
man. 

We therefore have two admitted facts: First. That the 
literature of the Old Testament abounds in predictions 
uttered by various persons and at widely different periods 
of time, affirming in the most conclusive terms that such a 
kingdom would be established, with a Messiah as its 
Author, King and Ruler. Second. The realization, after 
the lapse of several centuries, with such fitness and confirm¬ 
ation in their fulfillment as could not possibly have existed 
without the direction and aid of the supernatural. 

It is, we repeat, immaterial whether these predictions 
were uttered two hundred or two thousand years before the 


SHEPHERDS WORSHIPING AT BETHLEHEM. 



































































EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


109 


Christian era. In either event, they clearly exhibit the 
existence and directing force of the supernatural. 

This conclusion is farther corroborated and sustained by 
the claims of Christ and His disciples that He was the full 
and perfect realization of the types, shadows, and prophe¬ 
cies of the Old Testament. 

Nothing is more certain than that the New Testament is 
founded on and has grown out of the Old. Christianity 
has largely grown out of Judaism. Unless the Old Testa¬ 
ment had been written, and the miracles it contains had 
been developed, the New Testament would never have 
appeared or the claims of Jesus Christ been asserted. 

Christianit} 7 , therefore, correctly assumes the right to 
supersede the entire system of the Old Testament on the 
sole ground that Jesus Christ is its complete realization, 
and to such an extent as to largely render it nugatory. 

This substitution has been effected wherever the Christian 
Church has been established, and constitutes a proof that 
whatever was real in Judaism has been so fully satisfied by 
Christianity that the shadows and types are useless now 
that we are in possession of the substance. So complete a 
supersession of one system by another, which has grown 
out of it, is without a parallel in history, and irresistibly 
brings us into the presence of the supernatural. 

In avoidance of the evidential force of this argument, the 
skeptics, among other suggestions, have urged that Christ 
and His apostles evolved the conception of the prophetical 
Messiah out of the Old Testament Scriptures and Apocry¬ 
phal writings, and contend that Christ went through only 
with the form of fulfilling the prediction concerning the 


no 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


Messiah, but that as a matter of fact He was not the only 
begotten Son of God —the prophetic Messiah. 

The conclusive answer to this skeptical contention is that 
the best educated, the most learned, and the wisest of the 
sons of men in all the ages could not possibly have pre¬ 
sented to the world, without divine aid, the phenomenal 
life which it is conceded Christ exhibited. 

In the light of His life, and the light that has emanated 
from it, skeptics admit that He was the greatest among the 
sons of men, and that He is the only human being who has 
ever lived that has exhibited a character worthy of being 
adored, and that to tear His name and influence from the 
world would shake it to its very foundation. 

These admissions, when considered in connection with 
Christ’s profound consciousness that He was the Messiah, 
and in connection with His perfect life, go far to prove His 
divine character and mission. Especially is this true when 
we keep in view the fact that He was a man of limited 
acquired education. When He began in the synagogue at 
Nazareth to teach after entering upon His mission, He so 
astonished the people by the display of His wisdom that 
they asked: 

“ Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty 
works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His 
mother called Mary, and His brethren, James, and Joseph, 
and Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all 
with us? Whence, then, hath this man all these things? ” 

If He had manifested only ordinary wisdom and knowl¬ 
edge, the skeptical contention would be plausible; but in 
view of the extra-human life He exhibited, which cannot 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 


Ill 


by any known principle or precedent be explained if He 
were not the Messiah, as great a mystery is presented as 
these prophecies and their literal fulfillment could possibly 
afford. 

Were He not what he claimed to be, this mysterious con¬ 
sciousness that He was the Messiah, together with the 
many stupendous claims He asserted, would present con¬ 
clusive evidence that He was laboring under hallucinations. 
If such had been the case, He could not have maintained a 
character in harmony with these marvelous claims, which it 
is conceded He did. 

The conclusion to be drawn from these facts is that 
Christ, not only in form but in substance and detail, has 
satisfied the prophetical picture of the prophetic Messiah, 
who would bless “ the nations and families of the earth.” 

It might with plausibility be said that these predictions 
and their apparent fulfillment when considered separately 
are not sufficient to inspire full faith in the divine authen¬ 
ticity of the Bible and the truth of this history. But when 
we consider these prophecies and their combined fulfill¬ 
ments in connection with the phenomenal history of this 
select nation of people, and the life and character of Jesus 
Christ, from which has emanated a phenomenal influence 
that has and is blessing the nations and families of the 
earth, we have developed a chain of positive and circum¬ 
stantial evidence, which, when considered in its combined 
probative force, fully vindicates and establishes the truth of 
this history, the divine authenticity of the Bible, and the 
existence of a progressive supernatural revelation. 

7 


CHAPTER III. 


THE VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED BY THE EVIDENCE. 


ROM the announcement that the seed of the 
woman would bruise the serpent’s head, a 
celestial manifestation had been expected. 
The metamorphosis of the gods of Greece 
and Rome, the incarnation of Brahma, the 
avatars of Vishnu, and the human form of 
Krishna and its alleged reappearance, in 
succession indicate an almost universal expectancy, neces¬ 
sity, and demand of human nature for a divine incarnation. 

Commencing with God’s covenants with Abraham to 
bless the families of the earth through the seed of Isaac, 
the Hebrew nation had looked forward with ardent antici¬ 
pation to the coming of a divine Person in the form and 
likeness of man. 

The literature of this nation presents a vivid picture of 
His coming as a Messiah whose reign would elevate and 
bless the nations of the earth. Their prophets announced 
the coming of a star out of Jacob and a scepter out of 
Israel — the conception by a virgin — “A son given” 
whose name would be “Immanuel,” “Wonderful,” 
“Counselor,” “The Prince of Peace,” “The Mighty 
God,” whose dominion and perpetual reign of peace 
would embrace both land and sea. 

( 112 ) 








VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


113 


When the angels in their proclamation of peace heralded 
from the sky the glad tidings that a Saviour had been born, 
the cry of a celestial manifestation had been heard upon 
every hilltop and in every valley of Judea. 

It is stated that while Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra 
the multitude desired to worship Paul as an incarnation of 
Mercury, and Barnabas as an incarnation of Jupiter. The 
people of Lycaonia cried: “ The gods are come down to us 
in the likeness of men,” clearly indicating the expectancy 
of a divine incarnation in human form. 

The mysterious promise in the beginning had been the 
hope of all succeeding generations until its perfect realiza¬ 
tion in the manifestation of “ God in Christ.” The union 
of divinity and humanity is a profound mystery, yet its 
existence is sustained by such a strong chain of positive and 
circumstantial evidence that it should no longer be doubted. 
Accepting its truth, the mystery involved in Christ’s mirac¬ 
ulous entry into the world and departure from it is solved. 
The evidence of its truth is overwhelming. 

First. It is alleged that Gabriel said to Mary, “ Fear not, 
Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.” He promised 
that the Holy Ghost would come upon her; that the power 
of the Most High would overshadow her, that she would 
conceive, and the holy Being that would be born of her 
should be called “ Jesus, the Son of God.” After the 
usual time of gestation it was proclaimed from the sky: 

“ I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be 
to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” 

It will appear from a critical examination of the facts 


114 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


that this celestial child was no star coming alone from 
heaven, no flower springing alone from the earth, but was 
both human and divine, uniting heaven and earth. 

It is related that He developed in stature and in favor 
with God and man; and when about thirty years of age, 



THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 


hearing of John the Baptist’s announcement that the 
kingdom of heaven was at hand, He calmly laid down 
his carpenter’s tools, and drawn by the impulse of His 
divine mission, walked over to the Jordan, where John 
was baptizing. 













VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


115 


In introducing Him, John the Baptist said : “ This is He 
of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred 
before me; for He was before me. And I saw and bear 
record that this is the Son of God.” 

The Apostle St. John, who had every opportunity of 
knowing the facts, forcibly said: “In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. * * * All things were .made by 
Him. * * * And the Word was made flesh, and 
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father.” 

Paul declared that “ Christ being in the form of 
God, * * * took upon Him the form of a servant.” 
The apostles, who had spent three years in daily contact 
with Christ, had perfect faith in Him as being the 
Messiah.” 

Christ asked them : 

“ Whom do the people say I am? ” 

They answered : 

“ Some say John the Baptist, some Elias, or one of the 
prophets.” 

Christ then asked: 

“ Whom say ye that I am? ” 

Peter replied: 

“ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

The unbounded faith of these witnesses strongly con¬ 
firms the Virgin Mother story. 

Second. Christ possessed a mysterious consciousness 
that He had always existed, and that by virtue of the 
Immaculate Conception He had come into the world as 


116 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


the “only begotten Son of God.” In His intercessory 
prayer He said: “ I have glorified Thee on the earth; I 
have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. 
And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own 
self with the glory I had with Thee before the world was.” 

In purging the Lord’s temple, he cried with an authori¬ 
tative voice: 

“ Make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” 

In a conversation held with a Samaritan woman at 
Jacob’s w r ell, she, amazed at his revelation, said: 

“I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ; 
when He is come, He will tell us all things.” 

Jesus replied: 

44 1 that speak unto thee am He.” 

When arraigned for Sabbath-breaking, as a defense He 
said : 

44 My Father w T orketh hitherto, and I work.” 

On restoring sight to one who was blind, Jesus inquired 
if he believed on the Son of God. 

The man replied: 

44 Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? ” 

Christ said: 

44 It is he that talketh with thee.” 

On other occasions Jesus said: 

44 Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” 44 If ye 
love Me, keep My commandments.” 44 Ye are from be¬ 
neath; I am from above.” 44 1 came down from Heaven.” 
44 The hour is coming * * * when the dead shall hear 

the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall 

































































































































































VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


119 


live.” “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, 
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit on the 
throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered 
all nations.” 

It is clear Christ possessed a sincere consciousness that 
He was the “ only begotten Son of God.” 

In all civilized nations, for a man to assert such awful 
claims has been regarded as evidence of insanity. The 
authors on medical jurisprudence as well as law-writers 
concur in this statement. Why is it, we ask, the world 
has not declared Christ insane? 

The answer is clear. His life of intellectual greatness, 
wisdom, and perfection was in harmony with these 
stupendous claims. 

Skeptics freely admit that in the perfection of His 
character and in original knowledge He has never had an 
equal. No one can read the Lord’s Prayer, the Sermon 
on the Mount, Christ’s parables and teachings, and for 
one moment doubt His intellectual greatness and wisdom. 
Penan frankly concedes that His Sermon on the Mount 
will never be surpassed. 

Christ’s profound consciousness that He possessed a 
superhuman character, and the consistent and corre¬ 
sponding life He presented, distinguish Him immeasurably 
above all other men, and raise a strong presumption sus¬ 
taining the Virgin Mother story. 

Christ is the only person who has presented to the 
world a perfect life. Infidels, appreciating the force of 
this fact, have sifted it in search of evidence inconsistent 
with sinlessness, and have been compelled to admit that 


120 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


the only alleged inharmonious acts they are able to point 
out are His language in denouncing the self-righteous 
Pharisees, and His harshness in purging the Lord’s 
temple, turning over tables, pouring out money on the 
floor, etc. In their efforts to show these acts to have 
been inconsistent with a sinless character, they have 
failed to appreciate God’s attitude toward hypocrisy, sin, 
and desecration. 

The fact that skeptics can find nothing more than these 
cited instances is an implied confession that His life was 
sinless. This superhuman manifestation cannot be ac¬ 
counted for on any natural theory. He called upon men 
to repent and follow His example. He claimed that 
power had been given Him to forgive sins. He held 
out the strongest inducements to sin no more. And 
during His public life His acts and appeals to men in¬ 
volved on His part a clear, sincere consciousness that His 
life was sinless. 

He defied His enemies, saying: 

“ Which of you convinceth Me of sin? ” 

He never reproached Himself or regretted anything He 
had ever done. He never uttered a word to indicate that 
He had taken a wrong step. On the contrary, He said: 

“I do always those things that please the Father.” 
“ The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in 
Me.” 

Viewing this proposition from the standpoint of human 
observation, it becomes clear that it would have been an 
impossibility for Christ to have asserted His sinlessness 
and perfection of character during his public career, in 


VIRGIN MOTHER STOUY SUSTAINED 


121 


open conflict with His intensely critical enemies, who were 
the leaders in authority, without detection and exposure if 
His pretensions had been false. 

History records the life of many Christian characters 
and honorable men, all of whom have confessed faults. 



LEVI SITTING AT THE RECEIPT OF CUSTOMS. 


Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Paul and others often repented 
and threw themselves on the tender mercies of God. We 
repeat, Christ’s consciousness, coupled with a sinless life, 
is without a precedent in the history of the world, and 
creates an impassable chasm between Him and all other 




















122 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


men, which raises a strong presumption corroborating the 
Virgin Mother story. 

Fourth. Christ possessed a personal influence over 
men that was miraculous. John’s startling introduction of 
Christ caused some of his disciples to follow Him. Jesus 
met Philip and said : 

“ Follow Me.” 

Philip obeyed. He passed the custom-house and saw 
Levi, called Matthew, the publican, who held the position 
of tax collector. Jesus said : 

“ Follow Me.” 

Matthew left office and home and became His disciple. 

In passing by the sea of Galilee, Christ saw Simon, 
called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into 
the sea, and He said: 

“ Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And 
they straightway left their nets and followed Him. And 
going on from thence He saw James, the son of Zebedee, 
and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, 
mending their netsL, and He called them. And they imme¬ 
diately left their ship and their father and followed Him. 
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syna¬ 
gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and 
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease 
among the people. And his fame went through all 
Syria. * * * And there followed Him great mul¬ 

titudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and 
from Jesusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond 
Jordan.” 

The manner in which He attracted the attention of the 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


123 


people, and their promptness in leaving ships, nets, office, 
home and parents at His bidding, is without a precedent. 

During the Passover season the holy temple was con¬ 
verted into a babel. The members of the Sanhedrim, con¬ 
sisting of seventy-one judges, were there; the people from 
all Judea, Perea, Galilee, and the surrounding country were 
there attending the Passover; and when Jesus appeared 
He found the temple being desecrated by money-changers, 
sacrificial animals, and dovecotes. The money was click¬ 
ing, the cattle were lowing and the sheep bleating, which 
horrible spectacle filled Him with holy indignation, and 
He entered with a whip, drove out the cattle, turned over 
the tables of the money-changers, and in the supreme 
manifestation of divine authority cried out: 

“ Take these things hence! Make not My Father’s 
house a house of merchandise.” 

This act of unprecedented heroism and indescribable indig¬ 
nation at their desecration caused the judges, officers of the 
law, and money-changers to stand trembling in awe, and 
no attempt was made to check or arrest Him. But when 
the officers had rebounded from their shock, they approached 
and asked for a sign for the exercise of His authority. 

He replied: 

“ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it 
up.” 

They interfered no farther, and He continued the work 
of His divine mission. 

As conclusive evidence of the effect this unearthly trans¬ 
action had, Nicodemus, one of the judges, approached 
Him, saying: 


124 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


“ Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from 
God: for no man can perform these miracles that Thou 
doest except God be with him.” 

Zaccheus, a back-tax collector, who had accumulated 
immense wealth by extortion, was anxious to see Christ, 
but on account of the crowd had to climb into a sycamore 
tree. 

Christ, discovering his anxiety, said: 

“ Make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide 
at thy house.” 

The Pharisees called attention to the fact that Jesus 
was going to dine with this publican and sinner. We do 
not know all that passed, but this much is certain: Christ’s 
appearance so completely captivated Zaccheus that he 
stood up and humbly said: 

“ Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; 
and if I have taken anything from any man by false 
accusation, I restore him four-fold.” 

When this language of supreme recognition is read in 
the light of Christ’s age and limited education, it demon¬ 
strates a miraculous power over men. Think of it! The 
appearance and words of this thirty-year-old mechanic 
brings a wicked man who had accumulated a fortune to 
his feet with words expressing unbounded faith: 

“ Behold, Lord! ” 

Christ’s attack upon the Jewish religion was revolu¬ 
tionary. The Sanhedrim appointed officers and com¬ 
manded His arrest. The officers found Christ discussing 
Ilis kingly mission. His magnetism, words and teachings 
were so startling and made such a profound impression 



JESUS DRIVES OUT THE MONEY-CHANGERS 


( 125 ) 





























































































































VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


127 


upon all present that the officers returned without 
attempting the arrest. 

When they appeared before the court that had appointed 
them, the chief-justice inquired : 

“ Why have ye not brought Him? ” 

The officers replied: 

“ Never man spake like this man.” 

Officers had never before made such a return. They 
have returned that the defendant could not be found, or 
that he had made his escape, or some similar statement; 
but never before had officers appointed to make a specific 
arrest returned, saying in substance that they did not 
make it because they heard the man discussing his claims 
and feared to attempt the arrest. In other words, the 
influence of Christ’s speech and appearance differed so 
greatly from that of all other men that they were amazed. 
The judges said: 

“ Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of 
the Pharisees believed on -Him? But these people who 
knoweth not the law are cursed.” 

Nicodemus answered: “ Doth our law judge any man 
before it hear him and know what he doeth? ” 

The judges, in their confusion and anger, replied, 
saying: 

“Art thou also of Galilee? ” 

The court was adjourned in confusion, “ and every man 
went unto his own house,” leaving Christ discussing His 
mission. 

Who was this obscure Nazarene who overpowered 
officers and stampeded judges? St. Peter says; 


128 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


“ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

This phase of Christ’s life strongly confirms the trufih of 
the Virgin Mother story. 

Fifth. In knowledge and wisdom man cannot be com¬ 
pared with Him. The leaders in authority sought to 
expose in Christ some weakness, that the people might not 
have faith in Him; but by their efforts brought them to 
shame. They sent their wisest men to propound questions 
that might call forth some declaration or statement that 
would enable them to charge Him with treason. They 
said: 

66 Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest 
rightly, * * * is it lawful for us to give tribute unto 

Caesar, or no? ” 

Perceiving their craftiness, and without hesitation or 
reflection, He said : 

“ Show me a penny.” 

He then asked: 

“ Whose image and superscription hath it? ” 

They answered: 

“ Caesar’s.” 

He said: 

“ Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are 
Caesar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s.” 

This lofty response, made without a moment’s warning 
or reflection, so amazed them that they stood in awe. 

Christ had been discussing His spiritual kingdom; and 
in response to these designing priests, He availed Himself 
of this occasion to draw a vital distinction between ma¬ 
terial and spiritual worship. He in substance said : 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


129 


“ Caesar is maintaining a material kingdom, and it is 
essential that he should have material tribute; God is 
maintaining a spiritual kingdom, and demands spiritual 
worship.” 

This sublime announcement and demand upon the 
human soul was a new revelation to those learned priests. 

The Sadducees, believing they could submit a question 
that would expose the fallacy of Christ’s doctrine con¬ 
cerning the Resurrection, said: 

“ Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother 
die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his 
brother should take his wife. * * * There were there¬ 

fore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died 
without children. And the second took her to wife, and 
he died childless. And the third took her; and in like 
manner the seven also. * * * Last of all, the woman 

died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of 
them is she? Seven had her to wife.” 

Without a moment’s reflection, Jesus made the amazing 
reply: 

“ The children of this world marry, and are given in 
marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to 
obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, 
neither marry nor are given in marriage. Neither can 
they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels, 
and are the children of God.” 

Making clear the spiritual life, in substance He said that 
in the resurrection we would come forth spiritual sons and 
daughters, and would be like the angels. No such con¬ 
ception had been distinctly taught, and it is but natural 


L30 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


that the priests marveled at His answers and were silenced 
at the grandeur of His spiritual conceptions. 

Christ asserted in substance that He was the author of 
the Ten Commandments. The Pharisees, amazed at these 
sacred claims, concluded to test His knowledge of them, 
and accordingly delegated a learned lawyer to propound 
questions, who said: “ Master, which is the greatest com¬ 
mandment in the law? ” 

Without a moment’s hesitation or reflection, Christ 
replied: 

“ Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and 
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two 
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 

This prompt answer is strong proof of the divine source 
of Christ’s knowledge. If there had been submitted to 
the Scribes, Pharisees, or Sadducees the question of 
digesting the Ten Commandments into two, they might 
have spent weeks, and would then have failed to give as 
perfect answer and digest of them as Christ did without a 
moment's preparation. His familiarity with all subjects, 
as shown by His perfect and immediate answers without a 
shadow of hesitation, and His triumphs in all intellectual 
contests with the wisest men of His generation, remove 
from the realms of doubt and uncertainty the question as to 
the divine source of his information, and intensify the 
presumption in favor of the Virgin Mother story. 

Sixth. Christ’s originality, considered in collection with 
the new light He brought into the world, confirms the same 
conclusion. 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


131 


To fully appreciate this proposition, we must keep 
before us Christ’s environments, and the education re¬ 
ceived as He developed into manhood. It is reasonably 
certain that He never studied philosophy, geology, 
astronomy, or any of the higher branches of natural 
science. His education was confined to home-training and 
the synagogue service, all of which instruction was at 
variance with His subsequent teachings. 

The Hebrew definition of neighbor was confined to 
their own people, and they regarded all other nations as 
enemies. Those who held to the doctrine of the Resur¬ 
rection had but vague ideas concerning its reality. They 
believed in a coming Messiah, but one who would conquer 
the nations and re-establish Israel. 

Christ was born a Hebrew; but when He calmly 
entered upon His public mission, He rose high above 
the teachings of His nation, and presented Himself to 
the world as the only great catholic teacher of humanity. 

First. His teachings were not only original, but from 
His first public utterances He taught on the most difficult 
subjects with precision and clearness, without hesitation or 
expressing doubt of the truth. In discussing these difficult 
questions He prefaced His sentences with “ Verily, verily, 
I say unto you,” thus emphasizing the authority by which 
He spake and the truth of His teachings. 

In the briefly recorded history of Christ’s life, the 
phrase, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you,” recurs more 
than seventy times. In undertaking to explain any phe¬ 
nomenon, we classify it; but the supreme positiveness of 

Jesus, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” cannot be classified. 

8 


132 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


Ill all ages there have been dogmatists and bigots among 
teachers, who would open their books and say: 

“ It is written and that ends it.” 

Bigots cling to their formulated creed and cry aloud: 

“ So we say and believe, and any one who does not 
believe as we do is beyond the pale of the true Church.” 

Men have often appeared who, clinging to the traditions 
of the past, have said : 

“ I know, and cannot be mistaken.” 

This spurious character of assurance is familiar; but in 
examining the records of Jesus’ teachings, we discover a 
conscious assurance that is unearthly. These positive 
statements and these “ verilies ” always relate to subjects 
on which men have expressed hesitation and doubt. They 
did not precede assertions concerning science or history 
which men by research could discover, but they related to 
eternal things — to the new heart, to faith and its power, 
to sin and forgiveness, to the authority that had been com¬ 
mitted to Him, to His place in human history as the door 
and way to heavenly things, to His consciousness of being 
one with God, and to an indwelling divinity that enabled 
Him to declare: 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I 
am.” 

Second. Christ taught the then startling doctrine that the 
Creator was the God and Father of all nations and people. 

In His conversation with Nlcodemus, He said: 

“ God so loved the world.” 

In the prayer formulated for His disciples, He said: 

“ Our Father.” 



THU GOOD SHEPHERD. 


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VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


135 


In His final charge to Ilis disciples, He wiped out by 
one stroke all race and national distinctions, saying: 

“ Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
every creature.” 

Prior to Christ’s appearance, the resurrection and 
immortality of the soul had been taught as a probable, 
though vague and doubtful doctrine. 

In His teachings, and by the resurrection and visible 
ascension, He removed these questions from the realms of 
speculation and doubt. 

Christ also taught man’s relationship and likeness to 
God, by means of which He exalted and intensified the 
sacredness of human life which the prophets and philos¬ 
ophers had never appreciated. In reasoning with the 
Pharisees, He said: 

“ Who is it that hath an ox or an ass that would not 
on the Sabbath day loose it and lead it to water?” and 
then declared man to be of much more importance than 
these. 

“ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; 
which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth 
them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? ” 

“ Consider the lilies how they grow; they toil not, they 
spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe 
the grass, which is to-day in the field and to-morrow is cast 
into the oven, how much more will He clothe ye, O ye of 
little faith? ” 

“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to 
kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy 


136 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


both soul and body in hades. Are not two sparrows sold 
for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the 
ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your 
head are all numbered; fear not, therefore, ye are of more 
value than many sparrows.” 

Christ makes clear the distinction between soul and 
body — one material, the other spiritual and eternal — 
developing the grandeur of man, and of God’s love for 
him. He not only taught man’s sacred value, but also 
brought clearly to light God’s ardent love and solicitude 
for the children of men. He said: 

“ What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose 
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wil¬ 
derness, and go after that which is lost until he find it? 
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, 
rejoicing. And when he cometh home he calleth together 
his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with 
me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say 
unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just 
persons which need no repentance.” 

“ What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose 
one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house 
and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath 
found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors to¬ 
gether, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the 
piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is 
joy in the presence of the angels in heaven over one sinner 
that repenteth.” 

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we have a pathetic 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


137 


exhibition of God’s love for earth’s prodigals. It teaches 
that the farther man wanders from God the more intense 
is His desire to reclaim him, as is the shepherd’s for his 
sheep. 

Fourth. Christ has erected a high and exalted plane 
upon which man ought to live in his dealings with his 
fellows, beyond which he cannot possibly ascend. After 
He had spent three years in the exhibition of unprece¬ 
dented solicitude for humanity, He said : 

“ A new commandment I give unto you. Love one 
another as I have loved you.” 

This commandment, considered in connection with the 
parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, has 
shed divine light on the meaning of the word neighbor, 
and man’s duty toward Him. The keynote of this new 
and inspiring revelation centers in the fatherhood of God 
and the brotherhood of man. 

The Scuibes and Pharisees brought before Christ a 
woman who had been taken in the act of sin, and said: 

“ Moses in the law commanded us that such should be 
stoned.” 

It was only the stern law they had in their minds; they 
had no compassion for the poor fallen woman, or any 
proper conception of her great possibility of becoming in 
likeness to the angels. Hence Jesus, knowing their 
wicked lives, turned and said: 

“ He that is without sin among you let him first cast a 
stone at her.” 

Pricked to the heart and wretched at their public expos¬ 
ure, they fled before this piercing rebuke. Christ, looking 


138 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


tenderly upon the poor, trembling woman, appreciating 
her great possibilities, expressed His Father’s pity and 
forgiving love in saying: 

“ Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” 

No doubt there then shone for the first time in her heart 
a clear vision of God’s love for her as His erring child, and 
that she resolved henceforth to obey His commands, and 
be perfect as He was perfect. 

Or take the case of the fallen woman who, through the 
story of God’s love for the prodigals of earth, came press¬ 
ing her way through the crowd to anoint Jesus’ feet as 
He sat at the rich Pharisee’s table. Christ’s recognition 
and treatment of her so shocked the haughty crowd that 
they cried out: 

“ This man, if he were a prophet, would have known 
who and what manner of woman this is! ” 

“ What manner of woman? ” And then her story comes, 
the story of her love for her Rescuer, the story of her 
tears and kisses on His feet, and the spilled ointment whose 
fragrance yet filled the room. It was so told that the poor 
woman herself, while she necessarily cowed with shame 
and glowed with love, thrilled through and through with a 
knowledge of herself wholly new — told so that no figure 
of woman anywhere in history is to-day more clearly 
presented, 

Phillips Brooks appropriately said : 

“After the day when Christ told them the story which 
they could never forget, of how there was a man with an 
hundred sheep, and how one of them wandered from the 
flock and got astray among the hills, and of how the shep- 



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CHRIST AND THE ERRING WOMAN 


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VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


141 


herd left all the rest and went and found that one, and 
came down out of the hills singing, with the rescued sheep 
across his shoulders — after that keynote of the precious¬ 
ness of the individual had been struck, it never ceased to 
be heard through everything that Jesus said and did. 

44 When He sat at rich men’s tables, His proud hosts 
knew that it was not because they were rich, but because 
they were men, that He had come to them. When He 
entered poor men’s huts, they knew that it was not their 
poverty, but their manhood, that He honored.” 

Prior to Christ’s teachings, the world had no intelligent 
appreciation of God’s spiritual kingdom, spiritual resurrec¬ 
tion, or of man’s sacred value and great possibilities; but 
this Galilean Teacher, as the 44 Light of the world,” 
brought them to light. And He was the first who 
taught the distinct doctrine that the earth, together with 
the burning stars, would pass away, but that the priceless 
soul of each individual would rise above their wreck and 
ruin and shine as brightly as the angels. 

Christ stripped the Ten Commandments of their tradi¬ 
tional burdens and misconstructions, and presented them 
to the world in new light and beauty. He taught that 
keeping them to the letter, and not from the heart, would 
not free man from sin ; that all unrighteous desires of the 
heart were violations before God. 

He adopted the commandment, 44 Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself,” but to the word 44 neighbor.” gave 
a new and sacred meaning, He taught that it included all 
humanity; and as an example for all to follow, when in 
the very articles of death, He tenderly and touchingly 
prayed for His enemies. 


142 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


Christ’s “ Sermon on the Mount,” the prayer He formu¬ 
lated, His parables and other teachings revealed a system 
of original doctrines containing incentives to nobler life 
than had ever before been presented. 

His method of teaching differed from that of all other 
men. He never reflected before giving an answer to the 
most intricate question, but whatever He said seemed to 
spring from Him as the living fountain of truth. He 
never referred to secular history, poetry, rhetoric, mathe¬ 
matics, astronomy, natural science, discoveries, inventions, 
or any branch of learning. He confined His teachings to 
religion ; but in doing so, He threw radiant light over the 
entire history of man and the world, that has acted as a 
mighty inspiration to nobler thoughts. He taught the 
world as one who never learned anything from it, and 
was under no obligations to it. 

The more closely we examine the grandeur of Christ’s 
exalted conceptions and profound teachings the more 
clearly it appears that He was what He claimed to be, 
and that the immediate source of His information was of 
God, who was revealing and manifesting Himself to the 
world in and through Christ. 

Prior to Christ’s appearance all nations yearned for a 
better system of morals than the philosophers had presented. 
They had for generations struggled to discover a system 
that contained incentives that would reclaim the fallen, 
but their efforts had failed. 

The learned philosophers, Socrates and Plato, undertook 
to originate a code of morals that would incite men to 
higher and nobler living. When their labors had ended, 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


143 


a complex system was presented that abounded in close 
arguments and metaphysical discussions that could be 
appreciated by only the educated, and did not benefit the 
masses. They encouraged men who desired to live virtuous 
and better lives to retire from the world and lead an ascetic 
existence. These greatest of philosophers did not suggest 
anything that would be an incentive or that would have 
a regenerative effect upon the prodigals of their race. 
They discovered nothing that would call the abandoned 
to repentance or reclaim the fallen. 

Socrates and Plato taught the doctrine of immortality, 
but taught it as a vague, indefinite, and doubtful theory, 
so that it accomplished but little if any good. They 
suggested nothing that could aid man while continuing in 
the conflicts and temptations of life among the masses, and 
at the same time enable him to resist temptations and the 
evil influences with which he was brought in daily contact. 

What these philosophers could not attain in a lifetime, 
this Galilean Teacher accomplished in three years. He at 
one stroke felled the walls that separated and prevented 
nations from sympathizing one with another. Never before 
in the history of the world had the dignity and sacred value 
of human life been taught; never before had God’s love 
for the children of earth been so beautifully drawn out and 
impressed; never before had such a pattern of virtue been 
presented to man as He exhibited in His divinely attractive 
life and teachings, that have satisfied the long-felt demand 
of the struggling ages. 

Christ’s life and teachings contain incentives sufficient to 
regenerate the fallen and inspire the holy to yet higher 


144 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


degrees of holiness. The inducements He held out for 
reformation have made lasting impressions, and multitudes 
have been reclaimed. Mary Magdalene was reformed: her 
admiration for Christ was boundless. She it was who, as 
an angel of light, was seen last at the cross and first at the 
grave on the morning of the resurrection. 

Zaccheus repented and agreed to sell half he had, give it 
to the poor, and restore fourfold of his ill-gotten gains. 
His reformation demonstrates the regenerative force of 
Christ’s new teachings. On the day of Pentecost five 
thousand were converted. Since then multiplied millions 
of fallen men and women have been reformed through His 
life and teachings, and there are millions to-day who would 
willingly die rather than deny their Lord and their God. 

We press the question, Plow is it that a man of obscure 
birth, parentage, and of limited education, without divine 
aid, has accomplished more than the combined efforts of all 
other teachers and philosophers of the earth? 

Socrates, with a finished education, spent his life in an 
earnest desire to present to the world a better system of 
morals, but failed to do what the poor Nazarene accom¬ 
plished in three short years of His public life. Plato, a 
learned Grecian philosopher, a student of Socrates, who 
had received the benefits of his preceptor’s learning and 
research, and who had spent about ten years of his life 
in the investigation of the different codes of morals, and 
who no doubt had studied the Hebrew system, together 
with all the combined learning of the past, presented to 
Greece a system that could benefit only the educated and 
rich. 


DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT AT PENTECOST. 














































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


147 


How can this astonishing fact and contrast be explained 
on ordinary natural principles when we keep before us 
Christ’s obscurity, His early education, training, and the 
convictions of the people with whom He was brought in 
contact, and especially when we remember that His teach¬ 
ings were entirely new, and could not have been learned or 
received from His generation, or from the past, from any 
book or other source save from Himself as their original 
Author? It is only when we accept the truth of Christ’s 
statements as to the divine source of His knowledge that we 
have a satisfactory solution of the phenomenon herein 
developed. It cannot be explained by any known prec¬ 
edent or principle that operates in the development of 
man. 

By the aid of science the world has made rapid strides 
since the time of Christ’s appearance and teachings. It 
has progressed in the modes and speed of travel, in the con¬ 
venience and rapidity of communication, in the discovery 
of different gases, means of illumination, and in new inven¬ 
tions, that added glory to our civilization ; but no man has 
improved on Christ’s attractive teachings or His incentives 
to repentance and reformation. 

Improvements and discoveries have been made in every 
other branch of learning, but no teacher, philosopher, or 
moralist has ever attempted to improve on Christ’s teach¬ 
ings ; and during the last eighteen hundred years all have 
frankly conceded that they could not be improved upon, 
that they were sufficient to satisfy for all time the moral 
longings and spiritual aspirations of the human heart. It 
is admitted that no man can arise in the future who will 


148 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


surpass or even equal Christ, and that His moral teachings 
and incentives to reformation are sufficient to satisfy the 
aspirations, not only of this, but of all subsequent 
generations. 

In the light of these astounding facts, we have the great 
current of skeptical opinions, presenting one mighty chorus 
proclaiming Christ to be the wisest of all religious teachers 
and the greatest of the sons of men. But they attempt to 
account for His greatness on the theory of exalted genius. 
The assent of the skeptical world has been voiced by Leeky 
as follows: 

First. “ It was reserved for Christianity to present to the 
world an ideal character, which through all the changes of 
eighteen centuries has filled the hearts of men with an 
impassioned love.” 

Second. “ That He has shown Himself capable of acting 
on all ages, nations, temperaments, and conditions.” 

Third. “ That He was not only the best pattern of vir¬ 
tue, but the highest incentive to its practice, and has exerted 
so deep an influence that it may be truly said that the single 
record of three short years of active life has done infinitely 
more to regenerate and soften mankind than all the dis¬ 
quisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of the 
moralists combined.” 

Fourth. “ Amid all sins and failings, amid all priest¬ 
craft, persecution, and fanaticism that have defaced the 
Church, it has preserved in the character and example of 
its founder an enduring principle of regeneration.” 

Rousseau, in discussing the grandeur of Christ’s teach¬ 
ings, declared: 


FAMILY SCENE IN THE EAST 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































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VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


151 


“ I will confess to you that the majesty of the Scriptures 
strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the Gospel has 
its influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our philos¬ 
ophers, with all their pomp of diction: how mean, how 
contemptible are they compared with the Scriptures! Is 
it possible that a book at once so simple and so sublime 
should be merely the work of man? Is it possible that the 
sacred personage whose history it contains, should be 
Himself a mere man? ” 

Goethe, after a thorough investigation, proclaimed: 

“No matter how much the human mind may progress in 
intellectual culture, in the science of nature, in breadth 
and depth, it will never be able to rise above the eleva¬ 
tion and moral culture of Christianity as it shines in the 
gospels.” 

David Friedrich Strauss, the distinguished skeptical 
philosopher, admitted that: 

“ To the historical person of Christ belongs all in His 
life that exhibits His religious perfection, His discourses, 
His moral action and His passion. * * * He remains 

the highest model of religion within the reach of our 
thought, and no perfect piety is possible without His 
presence in the heart.” 

Theodore Parker, bearing on this question, remarked: 

“ In estimating the character of Jesus, it must be re¬ 
membered that He died at an age when man had not 
reached His fullest vigor. The great works of creative 
intellect, the maturest products of man, all the deep and 
settled plans for reforming the world, come from a period 
when experience gives a wider field as the basis of hope. 


152 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


Socrates was but an embryo sage till long after the age of 
Jesus: poems and philosophies that live come at a later 
date. 

“ Now, here we see a young man, but little more than 
thirty years old, with no advantage of position; the son 
and companion of rude people; born in a town whose in¬ 
habitants were wicked to a proverb; of a nation above all 
others distinguished for their superstition, for national 
pride, exaltation of themselves, and contempt for all 
others; in an age of singular corruption, when the sub¬ 
stance of religion had faded out from the minds of its 
anointed ministers, and sin had spread wide among the 
people — turbulent, oppressed, and down-trodden. 

“ A man ridiculed for His lack of knowledge among this 
nation of forms, of hypocritical priests, and corrupt peo¬ 
ple, falls back on simple morality, simple religion; unites 
in Himself the sublimest precepts and divinest practices, 
thus more than realizing the dream of prophets and sages; 
rises free from all prejudices of His age, nation, and sect; 
gives free range to the spirit of God in His breast; sets 
aside the law, sacred and time-honored as it was, its forms, 
its sacrifices, its temple, and its priests; puts away the doc¬ 
tors of the law, subtle, learned, irrefragable, and pours out 
a doctrine beautiful as the light, sublime as heaven, and 
true as God. The philosophers, the poets, the prophets, 
the rabbis — He rises above them all. 

“ Yet Nazareth was no Athens, where philosophy 
breathed in the circumambient air; it had neither porch nor 
lyceum ; not even a school of the prophets. There is God 
in the heart of this youth.” 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


153 


Renan said: 

“ In Him was concentrated all that was good and elevated 
in our nature. * * * Will great originality be born 

again, or will the world content itself by following the paths 
opened by the bold, original mind of antiquity? 

“We do not know. In any case, Jesus will not be sur¬ 
passed. His worship will constantly renew itself. His 
history will provoke endless pious tears. His sufferings 
will subdue the toughest hearts ; all ages will proclaim that 
among the sons of men no one has been born who is greater 
than Jesus. 

“ He saw in His death the salvation of the world; He 
lost sight of the hideous spectacles spread at His feet, and 
irrevocably united to His Father, He began upon the divine 
life which was to enter into the hearts of humanity for all 
eternity. 

“ Rest now in Thy glory, noble founder ! Thy work is 
complete; Thy divinity is established. Fear no more to 
see the edifice of Thy efforts crumble through a flaw. 
Henceforth, stripped of all frailty, Thou shalt aid, by the 
exaltation of Thy divine peace, the infinite fruits of Thy 
acts. At the cost of a few hours of suffering, which have 
not even tinged Thy great soul, Thou hast purchased the 
most complete immortality. 

66 During thousands of years the world will extol Thee. 
Ensign of our contradictions, Thou wilt be the standard 
around which will be fought great battles. A thousand 
times more loving, a thousand times more loved since Thy 
death than during the days of Thy pilgrimage here below — 
Thou wilt become so completely the corner-stone of human- 


154 


YIliCJIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


ity that to tear Thy name from this world would be to shake 
it to its foundations. Between Thee and God, men will no 
longer distinguish. Complete vanquisher of death, take 
possession of Thy kingdom, whither shall follow Thee by 
the royal road Thou hast trodden ages of adorers ! ” 

Christ has not only presented to the world a life, char¬ 
acter, and code of morals which have unmistakably accom¬ 
plished more than the combined efforts of all other 
teachers, but He has succeeded in giving a correct 
detailed prophetical history of the influences and effects of 
His life upon all succeeding generations. 

If the Virgin Mother story is true, and Christ was the 
“ only begotten Son of God,” it is but natural that He 
did possess a supernatural knowledge of the future; but 
if it be false, then there is no possible theory that can 
account for this mysterious fact. 

When the time was approaching for Him to go to the 
cross, and when all the combined powers of His nation 
were arrayed against Him, He prophetically expressed the 
most unbounded faith in the triumph of His kingdom and 
in the spread of His Gospel. 

But a short time preceding His crucifixion, His disciples 
complained of the useless expenditure and waste of Mary 
Magdalene in pouring upon Him a box of rich ointment 
as an expression of her love and devotion for Him. He 
replied: 

“ Let her alone. * * * She is come aforehand to 

anoint My body to the burying. Verily, I say unto you, 
wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the 
whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken 
of for a memorial of her.” 



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CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN 















































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VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


157 


Ill confirmation of this prophetical utterance, what she 
did has been told as a memorial of her more or less fre¬ 
quently in all Christian Churches for more than eighteen 
hundred years. 

Again He said : “ I am the Light of the world; he that 
followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 
the light of life.” These declarations again bring Christ’s 
knowledge of the future to an evidential test of fact, and 
in confirmation of them we have before us the admitted 
facts of history, that there has emanated and shown forth 
from His life, character, and teachings, more light than 
has been manifested by all the combined teachers of the 
world ; and that for eighteen centuries of crucial test it is 
admitted that every man that hath followed Him has not 
walked in darkness, but has had “the light of life.” 

The best evidence that the sun is shining is to turn and 
behold its beams; and the strongest and most conclusive 
evidence that Christ is and for centuries has been a moral 
and spiritual sun is to turn to every page of modern history 
and see the light he has emitted. 

His lifework and influence have entered into and lighted 
up every noble and civilized event and influence that have 
affected man’s highest and best interests, and if to-day it 
could be extinguished, the Christian world would be left in 
comparative darkness. He prophetically said: “ I, if I be 
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” 

He was lifted up, and the divine, attractive, self-sacrific¬ 
ing spirit that He exhibited upon the cross has shed a halo 
of divine glory upon His life’s work; there has been 
centered in this act of His life a divine attractive capacity 


158 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


that has touched and drawn the hearts of more men, 
women, and children to Him for eighteen centuries in 
a spirit of love and devotion than has been called forth 
by all the other leaders and teachers of this world. 

Other founders and leaders have been much admired 
and have had millions of followers; but not one of them, 
or all combined, have succeeded in calling forth from his 
followers the impassioned, self-sacrificing love and devotion 
that Christ has inspired in the hearts of men, women, and 
children. 

He compared His new spiritual kingdom in its beginning 
to a mustard-seed, but prophetically said that it would 
grow and spread until it should envelop the kingdoms of 
this earth. 

Subsequent history verifies the fact that for eighteen 
centuries this spiritual kingdom has grown and spread until 
it embraces all the progressive nations of man, and that 
all other religions are in a state of retrogression before its 
advancing civilizing light. 

It is an admitted fact that Christ’s spiritual kingdom is 
to-day making greater conquests in evangelizing the world 
than ever before ; that recently all the different evangelical 
denominations have met in council, and declared that within 
this generation the Gospel of Christ shall be carried “ into 
all the world.” 

It is an evident fact that the light of Christ’s life and 
influence is being more potently felt and appreciated to-day 
than ever before ; that it is gradually growing and increas¬ 
ing in attractiveness, and that men are now willingly con¬ 
tributing hundreds of dollars for the advancement of His 



JJE HEALED THE SICK AND RAISED THE DEAD 


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' 












































































































■'* 












.i 









































































































VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


161 


kingdom where one dollar was given fifty years ago. Until 
within this generation there had been written but few books 
devoted exclusively to the evidence that points to and 
establishes His superhuman, divinely attractive character; 
but those now written would fill a library. 

If Christ had made only one incidental reference to the 
future growth and development of His kingdom, the 
evidential force of this proposition would not be so con¬ 
clusive ; but the many prophetical declarations that are 
sustained and have been fulfilled in detail clearly and 
unmistakably establish the conclusion that Christ possessed 
a supernatural vision of the future progress of His kingdom. 
Throughout His entire public career He expressed perfect 
faith in His divine mission and its final victory and triumph. 
Even when the consequences of the betrayal were fast 
closing around Him, He calmly and with perfect assurance 
firmly said: 

“ Now is the Son of man glorified.” 

Notwithstanding the fact that Christ knew He was to 
suffer an ignominious death without precedent in history, 
He instituted the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as one 
of the means of perpetuating the memory of His life and 
death, and in perfect confidence and faith that in each suc¬ 
cessive generation millions would be glad to partake of this 
sacrificial communion as a manifestation of their faith in 
Him as their Lord and their God. 

When on the cross, in perfect assurance and faith of 
His triumph, He extended pardon to the thief, and as a 
pattern to be followed He pathetically prayed for His 
enemies. 


1G2 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


When standing before the council that condemned Him, 
the chief priest adjured Him to tell whether or no He was 
the Christ. In the supreme manifestation of faith, He 
replied: 

“ Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on 
the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of 
heaven.” 

At that awful moment His faith in the triumph of His 
kingdom and the spread of His Gospel was calm, perfect, 
unconquered, and unconquerable. 

Never before or since has there been such a perfect 
manifestation of the divine ! We therefore press the ques¬ 
tion, On what rational theory can this unfaltering assur¬ 
ance of triumph, sustained by a divinely attractive life, be 
accounted for, if we deny that there was manifested in 
Christ a union of both the divine and human? The com¬ 
bined evidential force of these facts leads to the logical 
and inevitable conclusion that Christ is divine, that His 
religion is divine, and that the Virgin Mother story is a 
sacred reality. 

It has, however, been suggested that Christ’s knowledge 
of the future, independently considered, was not conclusive 
evidence of His divinity; that Moses gave accurate in¬ 
formation of future events that occurred centuries after¬ 
ward. But the distinguishing difference between Christ 
and the prophets is manifest. Christ’s teachings emanated 
from Him as their original source, while the prophets were 
admitted instruments in the hands of the Lord to give a 
prophetical vision of the future progress of His work in 
making a revelation of Himself to man. 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


163 


Renan admits that: 

“Jesus had no visions: God did not speak to Him as to 
one outside of Himself; God was in him; He felt Himself 
with God, and He drew from His own heart all He said 
of His Father. He lived in the bosom of God by an 
increasing communication; He did not see Him, but He 
understood Him without the need of the thunder of Sinai, 
of the burning bush of Moses, of the revealing tempest of 
Job, of the oracle of the old Greek sages, of the familiar 
genius of Socrates, of the Angel Gabriel or of Mohammed. 
The imagination and the hallucination of a Saint Teresa, 
for example, are valueless here. He believes Himself to be 
in direct communication with God, He believes Himself to 
be the Son of God. The highest consciousness of God that 
has existed in the bosom of humanity is that of Jesus.” 

The evidence widely separates Christ from the prophets. 
They did not claim to be divinely related to God; they 
declared their prophetical utterances were by the word of 
the Lord. On the contrary, Christ declared that God was 
in Him and He in God. He said: 

“ Many prophets and kings have desired to see those 
things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear 
those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 
* * * The queen of the South shall rise up in the judg¬ 

ment with this generation, and condemn them; for she came 
from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom 
of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” 

The many rays of evidence that corroborate and sustain 
the Virgin Mother story, when considered in their com¬ 
bined force, establish the fact of the divine incarnation. 


164 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


From the prophetical declaration that the seed of the 
woman should bruise the serpent’s head, and the covenant 
with Abraham to bless the nations and families of the earth 
through the seed of Isaac, until the announcement of 



BALAAM AND THE ANGEL. 


Christ’s birth, a divine incarnation was eagerly and 
earnestly anticipated. 

Prior to its announcement Jacob prophetically referred to 
the coming of a Prince of Peace. 













VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


165 


Balaam sang of a Star that would rise out of Jacob, and 
a scepter out of Israel. 

Isaiah and other prophets announced a conception by “ a 
virgin,” “ a child born,” “ a Son given,” whose name 
would be called “ Immanuel,” the “ Wonderful Counselor,” 
the “ Prince of Peace,” the “Everlasting Father,” the 
“Mighty God,” and that He would be bruised, scourged, 
and put to death ; but that the “ Holy One ” would not see 
corruption, and in the issues of death and the grave He 
would triumph and be glorified. 

It is impossible to read this prophetical literature in the 
light of the Virgin Mother story and Christ’s phenomenal 
life without keenly appreciating its evidential force. 

The testimony of John the Baptist cannot be over¬ 
estimated in the light of the prophecy of Isaiah: 

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Pre¬ 
pare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert 
a highway, for the glory of the Lord shall be revealed 
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it.” 

When construed in the light of John as a voice in the 
wilderness announcing Christ’s coming, this prophecy 
creates a strong probative link in the chain of evidence 
that tends to sustain the Virgin Mother story. John 
emphatically declared that Christ was the “ only begotten 
Son of God,” whose shoe-latchets he was not worthy to 
unloose. 

These facts, when considered in connection with the 
mysterious prophecy that a virgin would conceive and 
bear a son, whose name would be called “Immanuel,” 


166 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


the “Prince of Peace,” the “Wonderful Counselor,” 
the “Mighty God;” and the equally unprecedented 
prophecy of Micah, “ But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that 
is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been 
from erf old, from everlasting. * * * For now shall 

He be great unto the ends of the world;” and also in 
connection with the pictures of Isaiah, David, Daniel, 
Malachi and other prophets describing His coming, and 
giving in detail His form, likeness, attributes, character, 
life, work and mission, would be absolutely meaningless 
and wholly inexplicable in the light of history if they 
did not have specific reference to Jesus Christ as the 
“ Messiah.” 

Did Micah, without divine aid, conceive the idea that 
there would arise a Ruler out of Bethlehem, whose goings 
forth had been “from everlasting?” If so, what sug¬ 
gested such a thought, and how can the miraculous fact 
that the historic Christ is in perfect fulfillment of this 
prophetical conception be explained or accounted for on 
reasonable or rational grounds? 

Jesus Christ Himself expressed a profound conscious¬ 
ness in corroboration of these prophecies. In his inter¬ 
cessory prayer immediately preceding His death, He 
said: 

“ I have glorified Thee on earth: I have finished the 
work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, 
glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which 
I had with Thee before the world was.” 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


167 


Again, when standing before His critical enemies, He 
fearlessly said: 

“ I am before Abraham was. * * * Abraham 

rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.’’ 

This consciousness of a pre-existence, together with the 
many manifestations of the superhuman, make it eviden¬ 
tially clear that Micah, in uttering the prophecy, was not 
making an idle proclamation or indulging in guesswork, 
but that he was supernaturally inspired. 

If Isaiah were not divinely inspired, how and on what 
possible theory can his prophecy that a virgin would con¬ 
ceive and bear a son be solved, especially when read in the 
light of its fulfillment in the Virgin Mother story and the 
sacred life that has emanated from it? 

There is no answer to these questions so reasonable and 
satisfactory as that given by this great prophet, in asserting 
that what he said was by the word of the Lord. Did some 
impostor forge or guess the miraculous fact that through 
the seed of Isaac the nations and families of the earth 
would be blessed? If so, why did he give God credit for 
this alleged covenant and vision of the future? 

Can the reasoning of Lecky, Henan, and other skeptics 
as to the solitary greatness and grandeur of Jesus Christ be 
solved on the theory of exalted genius in the light of this 
prophetical picture and of His admitted supreme life? 

If the evidence developed only the conclusion that Christ 
was superior to all other men from some one standpoint — 
for instance, intellectuality — their reasoning might be 
plausible; but when we turn the rays of prophecy upon 
this extra-human life, corroborated and sustained by the 


168 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


testimony of Mary and John, and by the boundless faith 
of Christ’s disciples, and the uncontroverted fact that He 
in so many material and vital respects differs from and 
stands high and immeasurably above all other men who 
have ever lived, we have developed a phenomenon that 
cannot be solved on the theory of exalted genius. 

To say that this supreme life can be explained on the 
above theory is simply to confess our inability to solve it. 
If the skeptical contention be correct, why, we ask, did this 
exalted genius appear only once in history? u Have the 
forces of nature exhausted their powers in His production 
and retired, powerless and wearied, from their labors?” 

It is evidently clear that the ordinary forces and powers 
that operate and energize in the production of man will not 
and cannot on any rational theory account for these many 
manifestations of the superhuman. 

If Christ had been only man and possessed exalted 
genius, wisdom, and knowledge in a degree immeasurably 
above the greatest of men, which is an admitted fact, then 
we insist and urge that it is clear that He could not pos¬ 
sibly have possessed a deep, sincere consciousness that He 
and God were one, or that He bore to God a divine rela¬ 
tionship. 

Such exalted genius and intellectual greatness are abso¬ 
lutely inconsistent and irreconcilable with an erroneous, 
false, spurious consciousness. No mere man in all the 
ages has been able to assert such stupendous claims without 
the world rightfully declaring him insane. 

Such awful claims are absolutely inconsistent with intel¬ 
lectual greatness and wisdom when asserted by man; and 



JOHN THE BAPTIST REPROVES HEROD 

10 


( 169 ) 



































































































































































































































































































































✓ 






. * 















VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


171 


therefore the fact that Christ has been able to so earnestly 
assert them, and at the same time present and maintain a 
character in perfect harmony with them, raises an irresist¬ 
ible presumption that He was what He claimed to be. 

If this conclusion is correct, this consciousness was but 
natural; but if not, there is no reasoning, precedent, or 
principle that can explain it, or tell why it was that He 
could not only possess it, but at the same time maintain 
a character consistent with it. Every claim He asserted, 
every act of His life, every supernatural manifestation, 
His daily teachings, prophetic knowledge of the future, 
His God-like death on the cross, are consistent with and 
blend into a perfectly harmonious, symmetrical, divine life. 

Christ possessed the best opportunity of knowing the 
truth of these sacred claims; and He, having been found 
sinless and truthful in everything else that He asserted, 
and the evidence otherwise pointing so strongly to a 
supernatural manifestation, it is more reasonable and cred¬ 
ible to accept His version of this mysterious problem than 
that of the clashing, conflicting theories of the infidel and 
skeptic. 

We repeat, if it be insisted that the Virgin Mother story 
is unnatural and miraculous, we urge and insist, on the 
other hand, that Christ, if He be not the prophetic Mes¬ 
siah, presents in His life and character a miracle that is 
more difficult to explain than that of His divine incarna¬ 
tion. 

We have shown that the incarnation of God in Christ 
had its foundation in the demands and necessities of 
human nature, and for centuries prior to His appearance 


172 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


such a manifestation had been ardently anticipated, and 
since His appearance every phase of his character 
authenticates and confirms His claims. He said: “ The 
prince of this world cometh and findeth nothing in Me;” 
and that He always did those things that pleased the 
Father. 

Christ claimed that He possessed power to forgive sins, 
and His entire public career was either an expressed or 
implied assertion that His life was perfect, free from fault, 
sinless, and without spot or blemish. 

No sane human being has ever possessed such a con¬ 
sciousness : on the contrary, all have admitted their weak¬ 
ness and imperfections, and have freely confessed them. 
Christ’s unprecedented manifestation of character is in 
direct conflict with the consciousness of all other men, 
and it can be solved only on the theory of the Virgin 
Mother story. Accepting its truth, all is clear: rejecting 
it, we are at once confronted by a miracle—a problem 
that the ordinary laws and principles of nature cannot 
explain. 

This proposition cannot be overestimated, especially in 
view of the fact that the observation and experience of all 
ages demonstrate to a moral certainty that no man has ever 
asserted or claimed equality and oneness with God, that he 
possessed power on earth to forgive sins, and at the same 
time exhibited a character in harmony with these claims. 

On the contrary, in every instance, the individual who 
has so asserted has been found to be demented or insane, 
his character has been inconsistent, and in every respect 
out of harmony with such pretensions. 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


173 


We repeat, urge, and insist that this consciousness of 
greatness, sinlessness and divine perfection could not have 
so perfectly, consistently and harmoniously blended with the 
life and character that Christ has presented if it had been 
spurious and false, or if He had not been divine. 

This evidence differentiates and separates Him as high 
and far above all other men as the burning stars are above 
the earth. He has not only presented a life in harmony 
with this consciousness, but has by it fulfilled all prophecy 
of the coming Messiah, and placed in operation refining, 
softening, elevating and regenerating influences that for 
eighteen centuries have energized and operated mightily 
on civilization and on man’s highest and best interests — 
and to such an extent that skeptics, with scarcely an excep¬ 
tion, frankly admit that He is the greatest among the sons 
of men, and the only one worthy of being adored; that to 
tear His name from the world would shake it to its very 
foundation, and that between Him and God men will no 
longer distinguish. 

The logical conclusion irresistibly and inevitably confirms 
and sustains the Virgin Mother story as a divine reality. 

The Virgin Mother stands pre-eminent in the Bible as 
the greatest of all its women ; if for no other reason than 
that she was the mother of Christ. The selection of Mary 
for the immaculate conception of the Son of God has led 
to her being regarded by Roman Catholics as herself 
divine and therefore to her worship by them. What other 
woman of Scripture history, particularly in the New 
Testament, may be regarded as next to the mother of our 
Lord in prominence? Of Mary Magdalene it was said by 


174 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


our Lord Himself, “Verily, I say unto you, wheresoever 
this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, 
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a mem¬ 
orial of her ” —speaking of her anointing his feet for his 
burial. This prophecy of Christ—the selection of this 
woman by him to go down to fame through the ages as 
above all others of that band of devoted women by whom 
he was sustained through His ministry — those of whom it 
has been said they were “ the last at the cross and first at 
the sepulcher”—is peculiarly justified and realized in 
the devotion of the masters of art of all eras of the Chris¬ 
tian Church to the Magdalene as a leading subject for 
their brushes. 

In Munsey's Magazine for June, 1895, Margaret Field 
contributed an article on “ Types and Legends of the 
Magdalene,” in which she records some of the authentic 
and traditional records which tell the pathetic story of 
Mary of Magdala, and the many tributes paid her by 
medieval and modern art. It may not be out of place to 
quote from this article as an interesting appendix to the 
foregoing chapter, as follows : 

“ ~No saint has come so near to the human heart, has 
seemed so deeply in sympathy with the sinful, throbbing 
world, as that loving, penitent sinner, Mary Magdalen. 
She stands for all ages as she who was forgiven because 
she loved much, as the type of frail humanity redeemed 
through childlike faith and dependence. Painters of all 
ages have been fascinated by the sweetness and sorrow of 
her dramatic story, and each successive school of art has 
chosen some part of her life to put on canvas. 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


175 


“ The Eastern tradition made Mary Magdalen and Mary 
of Bethany, the sister of Martha, two distinct personages; 
but the legend that has been used by the artists of Europe 
is the one which Bible students have gathered from the 
scattered fragments of narrative in the New Testament, 
and from the mass of legendary incidents that surround 
every one of the early Christians. This story says that 
she was a native of Magdala, a district on the shores of 
the Sea of Galilee. She was the sister of Lazarus and of 
Martha, and the three lived together in their ancestral 
castle of Magdalon. Some legends say that the three 
were of royal parentage, the children of Syrus. On the 
death of their father they inherited vast riches, jewels, 
money, and land, besides a great position. Lazarus 
became a soldier, and Martha the practical head of the 
family, going about among the vines and the olive groves, 
adding to its store of wealth. Mary grew up beautiful, 
her long red hair a glory about her head. The officers who 
were her brother’s friends, and noblemen of the Roman 
government, paid court to the beautiful girl and turned her 
head, so that she became notorious for her gay and dissolute 
life. 

“ The country people were just then beginning to awaken 
to the new and strange teachings of the Carpenter’s Son, 
and a wave of religious feeling had set in through the 
people of Palestine. Mary laughed at this seriousness, 
and as she went about, with her long red hair braided with 
pearls, men pointed her out as 6 the sinner.’ She was given 
over, body and soul, to the seven deadly sins, and it was 
these seven devils that the Lord cast out of her heart when 
she was converted. 


176 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


“ When Mary saw the gentle Teacher of men, her heart 
was touched and she listened. To listen, with that impul¬ 
sive heart, was to believe, and she became the most devoted 
of all the followers of Christ. We all know the simple 
old story of Mary sitting at the feet of her Lord while 
Jesus chided Martha for being 6 cumbered with much 
serving.’ It was not long afterward that Jesus supped at 
the house of Simon, and Mary Magdalen followed him 
there and broke her alabaster box of precious ointment over 
his feet, wiping them with her hair. It was then that 
Christ said to her, ‘ Thy sins are forgiven.’ 

“ Again, it was Mary Magdalen who stood with Mary 
the Mother at the foot of the cross, and it was to Mary 
Magdalen that Christ first appeared after the resurrection. 
The woman who ‘ loved much,’ showed it here at last, 
for while the disciples went away to their homes, Mary 
Magdalen lingered by the tomb. 

“ In the gospels her story ends here, but the old French 
legends take it on and on. After the ascension, Mary and 
Martha and Lazarus, accompanied by Cedon, a blind man 
to whom Christ had given his sight, were set adrift in a 
rudderless boat. They finally landed, being guided by 
angels, at what is now Marseilles in France. The people 
were idol worshipers, and refused to keep the Christians; 
but Mary Magdalen stood in one of their heathen temples 
and preached to them until they were converted. Mary 
and Martha both became miracle workers, and Lazarus 
was consecrated as bishop of all that country. 

“ When the city was converted, Mary Magdalen retired to 
the desert, to do penance for those sins of her early youth 







MARY ANOINTS JESUS’ FEET. 


0 77 ) 





















VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


179 


which she felt not even the love of her crucified Lord could 
entirely take away. For thirty years she lived in the 
desert, fasting, studying, praying, and visited by angels. 
She had long been regarded as dead by the people of the 
city. One day a hermit, wandering in the desert, saw a 
wonderful sight. Midway between heaven and earth 
angels supported her, that she might be comforted by the 
music from the skies. He reported what he had seen, and 
the saint was brought back to Marseilles, where she died. 

“ History shows, now and then, a century which has 
been dominated by religious fervor. The thirteenth was 
one of these, in the south of France. The people thought 
of nothing but pilgrimages, penances, and relics. It was a 
most propitious time to find the bones of Mary Magdalen, 
and some discoverer announced that her grave was at St. 
Maximin, near Toulon. A church was founded on the 
spot, she was made the patron saint of the ruling prince, 
and became the object of passionate adoration. Sinners 
who did not dare lift their eyes to the Virgin in her stain¬ 
less purity could bow before the shrine of a sister woman 
who had fallen and arisen. With the men there was a 
certain sense of chivalry in their devotion to the Magdalen. 

“ The most splendid altar ever erected in her honor is the 
great church of the Madeleine in modern Paris. It is built 
on the model of the temple of Jupiter at Athens, and in 
form and in dedication it is a commentary upon Paris. 

“Ho artist has ever succeeded in giving us the perfect 
Saint Magdalen. We have her as she might have looked 
in her early girlhood, before the awakening of her soul, and 
we have her as a wretched, thin, and wasted figure, mourning 


180 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


in the desert, as well as the devotional saint, sorrowing, but 
forgiven. 

“ The characteristics of every country are brought out in 
the representation of the Magdalen. Her pictures at vari¬ 
ous epochs might almost read the history of the times. 
The Magdalens of Florence have a light intelligence, with 
pleasing faces, like the women of the Decameron. Those 
of old Venice are Venetian courtesans. France has given 
us pictures of women who have repented but might sin 
again. The Magdalens of Rubens are fleshy and vulgar; 
those of the Dutch and English schools are stiffly con¬ 
ventional. 

44 Guido Reni was regarded as the painter above all others 
when his subject w T as St. Mary Magdalen. But in these 
days his figures seem more like classic Niobes than types 
of the woman who, like Davidson’s nun, is 6 sister to the 
stars.’ 

“The Magdalen of the legend had run the gamut of life’s 
scale. She knew the heights and the depths, and she had 
chosen the heights. This noble, dignified comprehension 
few painters have succeeded in giving her. Yet Murillo has 
put hope as well as sorrow into his Magdalen. There are 
several 4 reading Magdalens,’ and in most of these pictures 
a skull is introduced as an emblem of mortality which she 
kept ever before her. 

44 Although there are so many stories and legends of Mary 
Magdalen, it is as the single figure that most artists have 
chosen to represent her. When she is grouped with others, 
it is almost always as breaking the box of ointment over the 
feet of the Saviour, as supporting His mother at the foot of 


VIRGIN MOTHER STORY SUSTAINED. 


181 


the cross, or in that striking scene at the tomb when Christ 
revealed Himself to her in the one word, ‘ Mary.’ 

“ There are some strange legends of miracles performed 
by the Magdalen. Soon after she landed in France, a 
heathen woman came to her and begged that the saint 
would pray that she might have a son. She said that she 
and her husband would believe, if the prayer was answered. 
But the husband was skeptical, and taking his wife, em¬ 
barked on a long voyage. On the sea a son was born, 
and the mother died. The ship put in to shore, and the 
dead mother, with her child on her bosom, was laid on the 
sand. The husband prayed, 6 Oh, Mary Magdalen! 
Have pity on my grief, and by a miracle save my son. I 
leave him to thee.’ 

“ The ship was gone on her voyage two years, and on 
his return the husband visited the rocky point. He found 
his child, miraculously saved, playing on the shore, and 
the body of his wife lying as he had left it. The child, 
fr ightened, ran and hid under its mother’s cloak, upon which 
she arose and spoke, glorifying Mary Magdalen.” 











CHAPTER IY. 


THE CREDIBILITY OF THE BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES 

of Christ’s superhuman life vindicated. 


0 AVOID the evidential force of 
prophecy and its fulfillment in the 
character and teachings of the his¬ 
toric Christ, skeptics have attacked 
from various standpoints the credibil¬ 
ity of the biographers of His attract¬ 
ive character as delineated in the 
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

Previous to this generation many urged that the Christ 
of the New Testament had never existed, and that His 
alleged history was but a myth or legend. On a more 
thorough investigation, however, it is now freely conceded 
that He was a great religious teacher, though it is con¬ 
tended by some that His phenomenal life and character 
may be accounted for on the ground of exalted genius. 

Other skeptics urge that the gospels were written the 
latter part of the second century after Christ’s death, and 
claim that the character therein delineated was largely con¬ 
structed from the Messianic prophecies and from Apocry¬ 
phal writings during the first and second centuries. It is 
evident, therefore, that skeptics disagree among themselves 
as to the basis of their attack. 

( 182 ) 




CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


183 


Let us suppose the following case in a court of justice: 

The testamentary capacity of A being involved, B, C 
and D are called as experts to disprove it. 

B testifies that, in his opinion, A does not have testa¬ 
mentary capacity, and gives in detail the reasons for such 
opinion. 

C agrees with B in his conclusion, but gives reasons that 
clash with those assigned by B. 

D agrees with both B and C, and as the basis of his con¬ 
clusions enumerates reasons that are in conflict with those of 
both B and C. 

In view of such evidence, an intelligent court would 
probably rule that it is not safe to follow opinions based 
upon reasons that are in hopeless conflict. 

If we examine the reasons alleged by different skeptics 
for their attacks upon the trustworthiness of the history of 
Christ, we shall find that in giving the basis of their opin¬ 
ions they present clashing and irreconcilable theories, 
thereby weakening the force of each other’s arguments. 

The history of Christ has been written by four different 
men. The author of the book of St. John asserts that he 
was an eye-witness to Christ’s wonderful life. 

It is generally believed that the Apostles Matthew 
and St. John wrote two of these biographies; that Luke, 
the companion of St. Paul, and Mark, the friend of 
the Apostle Peter, wrote the other two. The primitive 
Christians confirm this view, as will be seen by reference 
to Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and others. Three, if not all, of 
these writers were eye-witnesses of Christ’s phenomenal 
life. 


184 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


It is a general rule that witnesses when closely pressed 
on examination will either corroborate or impair the force 
of their main testimony by the incidental statements em¬ 
bodied in their narratives. Accordingly, if Christ’s biog¬ 
raphers are trustworthy, the incidental facts referred to by 
them will corroborate their main testimony; and we allege 
that, on a thorough examination, they are sustained by a 
chain of positive and circumstantial evidence that, on well- 
established rules in weighing the testimony of witnesses, 
should confirm their credibility. 

First. Christ’s biographers tell us that He was preceded 
by John the Baptist, who preached repentance and bap¬ 
tism, and was beheaded by order of Herod. The Jewish 
historian, Josephus, who wrote at an early date after 
Christ’s death, confirms these statements. 

Second. Christ’s biographers allege that He was put to 
death by order of Pontius Pilate. Tacitus and Josephus 
both confirm this statement. Tacitus wrote during the 
generation that survived Christ, and in referring to the 
persecution of the Christians by Nero, 61 A. D., says: 

“With this view, he [Nero] inflicted the most exquisite 
tortures on these men who derived their name and origin 

o 

from Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, had suffered 
death by the sentence of the procurator, Pontius Pilate.” 

Third. Christ’s biographers tell us that He had a 
brother whose name was James. Josephus, in alluding to 
the death of James at the instigation of Ananias, strongly 
confirms these witnesses by saying: 

“ So he assembled the Sanhedrim of Judges and brought 
before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, 
whose name was James.” 



TIIE WISE MEN OF THE EAST BRINGING GIFTS. 


( 183 ) 














































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CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


187 


Fourth. Christ’s biographers incidentally tell us about 
a well over in Samaria, near which a temple had been built, 
Josephus confirms this statement, which is also corrobo¬ 
rated by the strong evidential fact that the well is still 
there, and had existed long prior to Christ’s advent. 

Fifth. Christ’s biographers tell us of the rivers, lakes, 
and seas of that country, of the Brook of Kedron, of Beth¬ 
any, of the Mount of Olives, of the Mount of Crucifixion, 
of the roads that traverse that country, and of the towns 
and villages and their relative positions to each other — 
all of which are admitted historical facts. 

Sixth. Christ’s biographers incidentally tell us that 
Judea was largely under the control of Roman power. 
They also tell us of Pontius Pilate, of the Sanhedrim, of 
the customs, manners and architecture of that country, that 
the people were divided into different religious and political 
factions whose tenets and doctrines they separately charac¬ 
terized ; and it is universally conceded that these alleged 
historical facts are true, and that they corroborate and sus¬ 
tain the evidence of these witnesses. 

Seventh. For over eighteen hundred years Christ’s birth 
has been annually observed by making Christmas gifts and 
by holiday rejoicings. The records of both profane and 
sacred history state that the origin of this beautiful custom 
is the act of the Three Wise Men presenting gifts in honor 
of the appearance of the Messiah, which event has been 
graphically described by Christ’s biographers. 

Eighth. Christ’s biographers tell us of the Virgin 
Mother story, about the institution of the Lord’s Supper 

and the resurrection. And St. Paul, who had every oppor- 

n 


188 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


tunity of ascertaining the facts, in corroboration of these 
witnesses said that Christ emptied Himself of the form of 
God and took upon Him the form of a servant. 

“ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake 
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath 
appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the 
worlds.” 

Paul also affirmed that Christ appeared to him, and that 
five hundred persons at one time saw the Lord after the 
resurrection ; that while some had fallen asleep, the greater 
portion of them were then living witnesses to His 
resurrection. 

This statement contains strong inherent evidence of its 
truth. Had it been false, Paul could easily have been 
exposed as an impostor, and thus the greatest herald of 
Christianity the world has ever produced would have been 
silenced. No man with Paul’s surroundings would have 
written this open public letter, especially in view of the 
bitter enmity of Judea, had there been any possibility of 
its being contradicted. 

When this evidence is considered in the light of observa¬ 
tion, and in connection with the visible Christian Church, 
which immediately sprang into existence and has maintained 
an unprecedented growth upon the truth of the Incarnation 
and Resurrection, it presents the writers of the four gospels 
strongly corroborated and sustained. 

In the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians, Paul refers 
to the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the following 
emphatic words: 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


189 


“ For I have received of the Lord that which also I 
delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in 
which He was betrayed, took bread ; and when He had 
given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is My 
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of 
Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when 
He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in 
My blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance 
of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this 
cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” 

When we read the narrative of this unprecedented trans¬ 
action, written so soon after Christ’s death, and in an open 
public letter to an organized Church, when exposure would 
have been easy and certain had it been false, its weight as 
evidence cannot be overestimated. 

Ninth. Christ’s biographers tell us that prior to His 
death and resurrection our present Saturday was observed 
as the Sabbath day; and all subsequent history, in con¬ 
firmation of this truth, states that the Sabbath day, now 
called Sunday, was changed from Saturday to the first day 
of the week and observed in commemoration of the resur¬ 
rection of Christ. 

They also tell us that Christ earnestly sought to abolish 
the idol worship that had permeated the surrounding Gen¬ 
tile world. If to-day we ask what has banished this idola¬ 
try, its priests and its temples, every historian, both sacred 
and profane, will answer that it has been banished through 
the influence of the Christ of the New Testament, thus 
corroborating the testimony of His biographers. 

Tenth. Christ’s biographers tell us that He is the 


190 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


prophesied Messiah, and quote His declaration that the 
hour had come when it was not necessary for man to go to 
the mountains of Samaria or to the temple at Jerusalem 
with sacrificial animals to worship : that God is spirit, and 
as such may be worshiped anywhere — at home or abroad. 

History, in corroboration of these witnesses, tells us 
that, commencing with Christ’s life and continuing 
through all subsequent centuries, millions of each gener¬ 
ation have been blessed by worshiping God as a spirit. 

They also record Christ’s repeated affirmations that He 
came to inaugurate a spiritual reign and kingdom, which 
He likened to the mustard-seed in its tiny beginning and 
marvelous growth. 

To-day we find this spiritual reign embracing and bless¬ 
ing all of the more enlightened nations, and its origin can 
be distinctly traced back through the ages to the three 
years of Christ’s public career — the commencement of its 
march and growth through the centuries and over the 
nations of the earth. 

Both profane and sacred history tell us that the active 
moral force that is to-day operating upon the world had its 
origin in the person and in the teachings of Christ. His¬ 
tory affirms that this moral force was first seen as a light 
in Palestine during Christ’s public career, and that it has 
grown brighter and penetrated farther into the Gentile 
world as years have passed, again corroborating these wit¬ 
nesses who have recorded Christ’s alleged declarations that 
His Gospel of spiritual truth would become a light unto 
the Gentiles. 

Eleventh. Christ’s biographers allege that He taught 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


191 


the fatherhood of God, that man is immortal, and by 
doing God’s will can live with the holy angels forever. 
In corroboration of these witnesses Paul asserts that 
Christ brought to light the doctrine of immortality, and 
profane history demonstrates that prior to Christ’s teach¬ 
ings it had never been proclaimed as an established doc¬ 
trine, though Socrates, Plato and others had taught it as 
a vague, doubtful theory. Christ’s Church in its begin¬ 
ning was constructed and has since been maintained upon 
faith in the resurrection and in the immortality of the soul 
as its chief corner-stone. 

It is to-day admitted on every hand that Christ’s teach¬ 
ings and His attractive life have done more to advance 
mankind than the combined efforts of all the other relig¬ 
ious teachers and philosophers the world has ever known. 
Penan says: 

“ This sublime man, who still presides each day over the 
history of the world, * * * has caused His race to 

make the greatest advance toward the divine.” 

Twelfth. Christ’s biographers tell us that he said: 

“ I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me 
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of 
life.” 

Such an assertion was a bold one, for it removes His 
claims out of the realm of the theoretical and brings them 
within the range of a practical test of facts. 

If in the history of the past and present we cannot find 
clear and indubitable proof that an illuminating light has 
been and is shining forth from the person and teachings of 
Christ, then the author of the Fourth Gospel has stated 


192 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


facts that impeach His testimony. But, on the contrary, 
if we find that Christ has for eighteen centuries been 
man’s great moral and spiritual illuminator, then we have 
this witness corroborated and sustained by veritable testi¬ 
mony that is unimpeachable. 

human foresight could possibly have discerned the 
fact that this obscure Jewish carpenter would exert a 
greater light and influence on successive generations than 
the combined efforts of all other wise, great and good 
men. 

It is a fact verified by history that Christ was the author 
of a new moral and spiritual light that has illuminated 
all progressive races and nations for eighteen centuries. 
This fact is so unmistakably established that a mighty 
chorus of the skeptical world concedes it. The light that 
has emanated from His person and teachings has entered 
into all forms and phases of life: it has aided in molding 
and shaping all moral, benevolent and civilizing institu¬ 
tions and inspiring all the ennobling thoughts, actions 
and aspirations of men. Were His mighty influence and 
every event and interest that has been affected by it 
stricken from history and civilization, all that is beautiful 
and attractive in human thought and character would dis¬ 
appear. It would comparatively empty our libraries of all 
that is softening and refining, and take from our homes 
their purest and most elevating principles. 

But while the most civilized and progressive influences are 
in a marked degree characteristic of all nations dominated 
by the Christian religion, it should be noted as a fact of the 
greatest importance that all people who are entirely re- 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


193 


moved from the influences of Christ’s teachings are in a 
state of retrogression. 

Christ declared that His little mustard-seed would ulti¬ 
mately embrace the kingdoms of the earth, and Christianity 
obeys and is controlled by laws of growth and development 
that are in harmony with all the other laws of nature. 

In this respect it is like every other good work that has 
been accomplished — it has been progressive. This is the 
idea underlying our Lord’s parables, among which are the 
“Parable of the Sower,” “The Wheat and Tares,” “The 
Mustard Seed,” and that of “ The Leaven.” All teachings 
that have their foundations in the moral laws of nature are 
gradual and onward; and the day will come in the march 
of civilization when Christ’s dominion and teachings shall 
be universally recognized throughout the kingdoms of the 
world as the progressive light of life. 

Thirteenth. Christ’s biographers tell us that He de¬ 
mands supreme love : that whosoever loveth husband, wife, 
father or mother more than Christ is not worthy of Him ; 
and that He said: “ I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will 
draw all men unto Me;” meaning that willingly submit¬ 
ting to death upon the cross as an expression of God’s love 
for humanity, would in all ages attract and draw men to 
Him in love and devotion. 

Subsequent history demonstrates that Christ’s divine at¬ 
tractiveness has inspired more men, women and children 
with impassioned and self-sacrificing love than has been 
called forth by the lives and teachings of all other religious 
founders and leaders. 

Socrates and Plato, who by the light of nature and rea- 


194 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


son had received some gleam of the divine, exhibited great 
interest in their fellow Grecians, and since their death 
many beautiful things have been said about them and their 
system of philosophy. But whom, we ask, have they in¬ 
spired with a self-sacrificing, impassioned love? The world 
has thought of them as the most eminent of ancient phi¬ 
losophers, and as having merited great praise for their 
labors in behalf of Grecian elevation and happiness; but 
they have never inspired self-sacrificing love in the hearts 
of men. - 

Socrates and Plato are to-day more frequently mentioned 
in connection with the contrast that their lives and teach¬ 
ings present to the life and teachings of Christ than from 
any other standpoint; and by comparison, Christ shines 
forth as the illuminating, divine light of the world, leaving 
them where their life work ended, only as bright stars 
among and in the interests of Grecians. 

During Christ’s public career Caesar wielded an almost 
universal scepter, and attracted great attention in ruling 
the nations, while Christ’s kingdom was like that of a 
mustard-seed, and He as its founder suffered a malefactor’s 
death. But now, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, 
Christ’s votaries number many millions, and His kingdom 
embraces the most progressive races of men, while Caesar’s 
name is seldom appreciatively mentioned except in connec¬ 
tion with Christ’s reference to the tribute money, when He 
asked : “ Whose image and superscription is this? ” 

Among all civilized nations the name of Christ is con¬ 
stantly leaping from the lips of men in the highest praise, 
and His divine, self-sacrificing nature is inciting the hearts 


JERUSALEM IN THE TIME OF CHRIST 


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


197 


of multiplied millions with an impassioned love and with 
an intense desire to be perfect, as He was perfect. 

Although Napoleon is confessedly the greatest general 
the world has ever known, he exhibited no personal attrac¬ 
tiveness that has called forth impassioned love from the 
hearts of men, while, as the years have swept onward, the 
influence and power of Christ’s divinely attractive life and 
character have increased. The name of Napoleon is to-day 
more interestingly referred to in connection with his forcible 
argument at St. Helena vindicating the divinity of Christ 
than from any other standpoint. 

If we survey the entire list of ancient and modern poets, 
statesmen, soldiers, founders, and leaders of religion, the 
amazing fact will appear that by their lives none of them, 
save and except Christ, are to-day inspiring the hearts of 
men with an impassioned love. 

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Mohammed and 
others have attracted much attention. There are to-day 
many who admire their lives, and millions who adhere to 
their teachings; but all of them combined have failed to 
call forth to any degree, in comparison, the self-sacrificing 
love that has Christ. 

The evidential value of these veritable facts in corrobo¬ 
ration of the biographers of Christ is manifest. We find 
every prophetical declaration referring to Christ verified 
and confirmed by the history of the past and present, and 
we have shown that it would have been an utter impossi¬ 
bility for any of these witnesses to have foretold the result 
of each and all of these different prophecies, or of the 
mighty energizing influence and effect that Christ’s life and 


198 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


teachings would exert upon the hearts of man and upon 
civilization for the past eighteen hundred years. 

We are, therefore, confronted with the alternate proposi¬ 
tions : First, that Christ either possessed this prophetical 
vision, or, second, that these witnesses possessed it and 
gave Him credit for it. This latter alternate is improbable 
and not contended for by any one. 

It is, therefore, evidentially clear that Christ’s biograph¬ 
ers, in attributing to Him these different prophetical declara¬ 
tions, have honestly and faithfully given a true and correct 
history of His phenomenal life. No character of testimony 
could more strongly confirm the credibility of these wit¬ 
nesses than the evidential force of these many well-defined 
prophecies miraculously fulfilled. 

Fourteenth. These biographers and witnesses, in their 
delineations of Christ’s teachings, and of the high and fear¬ 
less claims He asserted, tell us of His repeated and constant 
declarations that He was the “Messiah,” “the only begot¬ 
ten Son of God,” and quote His reply to the Apostle 
Philip’s request that He make a visible manifestation of 
the Father to them : 

“ Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou 
not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen 
the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the 
Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and 
the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I 
speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me: 
He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, 
and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very 
work’s sake.” 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


199 


They also record Christ’s assertion that He possessed 
power on earth to forgive sins. 

The many evidential rays of divine manifestations that 
have emanated from Him lead to the inevitable conclusion 
that God was in Christ, revealing and manifesting Himself 
to the world. 

We have shown: 

First. That it is conceded by both Christians and skep¬ 
tics that Christ, intellectually and in the original light that 
He has manifested, is presented to the world as exalted 
far above all the greatest and wisest of men. This strong 
evidential fact, being admitted, requires explanation. Can 
this phenomenal life be satisfactorily accounted for by the 
ordinary forces and influences that energize in men? If 
not, then the natural presumption is that it was the result 
of an extraordinary or supernatural power. 

When a proposition is in harmony with universal expe¬ 
rience, we attribute it to the ordinary operations of the 
laws of nature; but when it is unmistakably true that a 
given manifestation is clearly beyond the realms of human 
experience in all ages, we have presented a mystery that 
can be accounted for only on the theory of a supernatural 
manifestation. 

It is known that some men possess greater intellect and 
wisdom than others; but the past history of man verifies 
the fact that there is a limit to intellectual greatness and 
superiority, and that no human being, however exalted his 
genius, has been able to entirely emancipate himself from 
the conditions surrounding his birth or from the moral and 
spiritual atmosphere in which he was educated. 


200 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


While it is true that no one can exactly define the opera¬ 
tions or the extent of the laws of nature which regulate 
the production of genius, yet the universal experience of 
man establishes the fact that there are limitations which 
cannot be transcended imposed upon it by its surroundings. 

The immortal Henry Drummond, in his work on “ En¬ 
vironment,” has truthfully said: 

“ Heredity and environment are the master influences of 
the organic world. These have made all of us what we 
are.” 

With reference to these questions, the skeptic has been 
unable to say anything more satisfactory than that Christ’s 
phenomenal life and teachings are due to exalted genius. 
This is equivalent to saying that it was the result of a 
force for which we are unable to account, and that a power 
has manifested itself in the life of Jesus Christ very differ¬ 
ent from that which has energized in ordinary humanity. 

This answer does not meet the question or solve the 
mysterious problem. Jesus Christ was either the product 
of ordinary known forces or He was the manifestation of 
the supernatural. His is the solitary character that has 
perfectly and successfully ignored the environments of 
birth and education, and this, too, notwithstanding the 
fact that He was born and educated in the narrow atmos¬ 
phere of Jewish exclusiveness and religious bigotry and 
fanaticism. 

Mohammed was a great teacher, but he never emanci¬ 
pated himself from the limitations of his birth and educa¬ 
tion. The Koran clearly proves that despite his remarkable 
genius he was unable to cut loose from the influences of 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


201 


early environments. His entire teachings are stamped with 
the strongest impress of the Arab mind. 

In the case of Socrates, of Plato, and all other great 
teachers, we have the same fact clearly demonstrated; not 
one of all the number was able to entirely free himself 
from the moral and spiritual atmosphere that he breathed. 



INTERIOR OF A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 


All were national and local save and except the Galilean 
teacher, who at one bound freed Himself from every en¬ 
vironment, and presented to the world, in Himself, the only 
great catholic leader of humanity. All others confined 
their teachings to their own nations. And one of the 

























202 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


striking contrasts between Christ and the ancient philos¬ 
ophers, is that His mission was as broad and comprehen¬ 
sive as humanity itself, while theirs were confined to the 
narrow limits of their own people. 

Another startling contrast is that they addressed their 
teachings “ to those of mankind who have a natural ten¬ 
dency toward virtue.” They despaired of ever accomplish¬ 
ing any good in behalf of the morally depraved. Jesus 
Christ, on the contrary, with calm assurance affirmed that 
He had come “ not to call the righteous, but sinners to 
repentance ; ” and with the supreme consciousness of being 
able to effect their regeneration and reformation, He com¬ 
menced his work among publicans and sinners. In His 
thrilling charge to the disciples, He commanded them to 
go into all the world and preach His Gospel of peace to 
“every creature,” baptizing them in the name of “the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” 

The conceptions that Christ and the philosophers enter¬ 
tained concerning their respective missions were as widely 
separated as are the poles. The philosophers’ mission was 
to their own nation, while Christ’s was to the world. They 
freely confessed their inability to improve or benefit the 
morally corrupt or degraded, while He expressed unbounded 
faith in being able to put into operation moral and spiritual 
forces sufficient to rescue the most depraved sons and 
daughters of earth, and forces that would inspire the holy 
to higher degrees of holiness. In this work He has miracu¬ 
lously triumphed. 

The intellectual greatness and original light that Christ 
brought into the world have been verified by the mighty, 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


203 


energizing effects they have for eighteen centuries exerted 
upon civilization, thus separating Him from and differen¬ 
tiating Him high above the greatest and wisest men, and 
thereby raising a clear presumption that this phenomenal 
life was the result of a superhuman manifestation. 

Second. Christ possessed a profound consciousness that 
He was the “only begotten Son of God,” that God dwelt 
in Him and He in God. According to the universal expe¬ 
rience of man in all ages, no individual save and except 
Christ has ever possessed such a consciousness without 
being declared insane. In all history He stands solitary 
and alone in the rational possession of such consciousness, 
and at the same time He presents a character in harmony 
with these awful claims. 

In this statement of admitted facts we are presented 
with a moral miracle that cannot be accounted for by any 
ordinary known law. If while possessing the greatness, 
wisdom and original knowledge that is to-day conceded to 
Him, Christ were the product of the ordinary laws that 
energize in mankind, His consciousness would have been 
in harmony with the fact, for the self-evident reason that 
if His consciousness were false and spurious it would have 
been the result of an insane delusion or hallucination that 
would be absolutely inconsistent with such solitary great¬ 
ness and wisdom. 

We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that Christ 
was not the product of the ordinary forces that energize in 
man, but that this mysterious consciousness and phenom¬ 
enal life were the results of a superhuman origin. 

Third. Christ’s life was God-like, perfect, without fault 

12 


204 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


or sin, and was therefore in harmony with His intellectual 
greatness, wisdom, and profound consciousness of a divine 
relationship. 

Testing His life by the natural laws that apply to all 
other men, it would have been an impossibility for Him to 
have possessed this consciousness unless His life had been 
sinless. All other men have sinned, and have possessed a 
realization of their imperfections. This phase of Christ’s 
character ushers us into the presence of a moral miracle 
that widely separates Him from all other men. The con¬ 
clusion that this exalted shining character is a superhuman 
manifestation of divine perfection is inevitable. 

Fourth. It is conceded that Christ has not only pre¬ 
sented a perfect pattern of virtue, but that He has by His 
life of love and self-sacrifice inspired the greatest incen¬ 
tives for others to follow the pattern. 

Many men have in a limited degree become patterns of 
virtue; but during the entire history of man we have only 
this one character that has been the great, inspiring motive 
and incentive to its practice and to the attainment of a life 
of holiness. Only on the theory of the supernatural 
can this unique and solitary manifestation possibly be 
accounted for. 

Fifth. Christ said: “ I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all men unto Me.” We have shown that His 
attractive life and willing offering of Himself upon the 
cross have inspired impassioned self-sacrificing love in a 
far greater degree than has been called forth by all the 
other leaders and teachers of men combined. This alone 
creates between Him and them so wide a chasm as to 
strongly indicate a superhuman manifestation. 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


205 


Sixth. It is conceded that by His life, character and 
teachings Christ created and inaugurated a spiritual reign 
and kingdom that started into operation moral and spirit¬ 
ual influences that, energizing as a mighty force, have 
accomplished more in advancing man toward the divine 
than have the influences of all other philosophers, states¬ 
men, religious teachers and founders. These unparalleled 
characteristics miraculously separate and differentiate Him 
from all other men. 

Seventh. Christ, with His divinely attractive life, is the 
only great teacher who cannot be separated from His 
teachings without impairing their force and value. He 
said: “I am one that bears witness of Myself,” clearly 
meaning that the supernatural which shone forth from His 
Godlike character was evidence of His divine mission. 
Therefore, to disconnect or separate His divine life from 
His teachings would greatly impair their value. 

Again Christ said: 

“ I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me 
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of 
life.” 

This light does not originate alone from His moral 
teachings. It is true that many of His teachings were 
new and original; but take from them the evidential facts 
tending to prove that they have emanated from a divine 
source, and the Christian Church, with its missionary and 
evangelizing spirit, never would have existed. 

The central fact in Christianity, that differentiates it 
from all other religious systems, is that its entire inner life 
and cohesive force have been maintained upon the divinely 
attractive character and history of Christ. 


206 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


Christianity is unlike all other religions in that it does 
not depend upon a compilation of moral precepts or 
dogmas, or in a ritual, but that it derives its life force 
from the evidential rays of divine light that center in and 
emanate from Christ’s character. It is this that has given 
to His precepts, teachings, and commands energizing 
force, and that has clearly and unmistakably elevated 
Christianity above all the other religions of the world. 

Moral and religious institutions without number have 
existed. Take, for instance, Mohammedanism, Buddhism, 
and Brahmanism. Two of these have known founders 
whose memories are held in great respect and reverence, 
yet the essential life of each of these systems is so com¬ 
pletely based upon or embodied in a collection of moral 
precepts and dogmatic teachings that the personal founder 
might be disconnected or removed without in the least 
impairing their fundamental principles or their moral 
regenerative effects. The same may be said of all other 
religions except Christianity; but take from that the 
attractive history of Jesus Christ, and the rays of light 
that have emanated and are to-day shining from Him as a 
great moral and spiritual light, and its destruction would 
be complete. “ The keystone would be removed, its arch 
and its whole superstructure would lose their cohesiveness 
and collapse.” 

If history verifies any one fact as a certainty, it is that 
Christ has exerted and is to-day exerting the most potent 
influence that has ever existed. We therefore press the 
argument that the sole reason for this is because He alone 
has been able to present to the world a divine attractiveness 



CHRIST 


BEFORE 


PILATE. 


( 207 ) 





















CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


209 


that is capable of penetrating the human heart and exer¬ 
cising over it an irresistible moral force. It is this that 
has rescued multiplied millions of the abandoned and 
depraved prodigals of earth, that has inspired the holy to 
higher degrees of holiness, and that has caused the wisest 
and greatest of men to bow before Him as Lord and God. 

It is therefore clear that the proof embodies many evi¬ 
dential rays centering in and emanating from the person 
and character of Christ, and that each of them presents a 
mystery that the ordinary known laws will not account for. 
When the many different phases of Christ’s character that 
so perfectly blend, harmonize with, and support each other, 
maintaining His divinity, are considered in their combined 
strength, a chain of evidence is developed that clearty sup¬ 
ports the credibility of Christ’s biographers. And when 
their trustworthiness and credibility are tested by the rules 
that are applied in civil courts, they should without the 
slightest hesitation be believed. We find that they not 
only corroborate each other in every substantial detail, but 
that on a close examination of all the incidental facts relat¬ 
ing: to and connected with Christ’s life, character and 
history corroborate and sustain them. 

If these witnesses were not telling the truth, a close 
investigation would of necessity expose their attempted 
imposition, because they refer to and cover so great a 
scope of history and incidental facts; therefore, if they 
were not writing what they honestly believed to be true, 
their insincerity could easily be detected. 

Christ’s biographers tell us who put Him to death, and 
the manner in which He was executed; that he had a 


210 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


brother whose name was James; that there was a noted 
well over in Samaria near a temple, and of rivers, lakes 
and seas; of the Brook of Kedron, of Bethany, the Mount 
of Olives, and the Mount of the Crucifixion; of the roads 
that traversed that country, and the distance from one vil¬ 
lage to another measured by the time it would take to walk 
it; that Judea at that time was largely under Roman con¬ 
trol ; of Pontius Pilate, of the Sanhedrim, of the customs, 
manners, and architecture of that country, and how it was 
divided into different political, social, and religious fac¬ 
tions, and the tenets each of them adhered to and taught. 
And concerning each and all of these matters we find their 
narratives to be correct. We therefore insist that the 
correctness of these narratives in all minute and incidental 
details raises a strong presumption that what they tell us 
concerning Christ’s life, character and teachings is also 
true. 

But the question as to whether this biographical history 
be true or false does not rest alone upon the evidential force 
and value of this presumption; for in their delineations of 
Christ’s history His biographers tell us what He taught, 
giving in detail His parables, formulated prayers, Sermon 
on the Mount, precepts, commandments, and the doctrine 
of His new spiritual kingdom, which they allege He 
inaugurated. 

We have shown that prior to Christ’s career no such 
kingdoms, teachings, or doctrines had ever been announced ; 
and it is conceded by all that it would have been an impos¬ 
sibility for these witnesses to have originated and attributed 
them to Christ as the author. To have accomplished this 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES 


211 



JESUS KNOCKS AT THE DOOR OF THE HEART. 


would have required collusion and co-operation on the part 
of these witnesses in the writing of their respective biograph- 












































212 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


ical histories; and there is no fact more certain than that 
there was none. Indeed, there is no basis whatever for 
such a supposition or theory. In the light of the conclus¬ 
ive evidence bearing on this question, the great skeptic, 
Renan, has forcibly said : 

“ Jesus founded the religion of humanity just as Socrates 
founded philosophy, and Aristotle science. There was 
philosophy before Socrates, and science before Aristotle; 
but since the times of Socrates and Aristotle, philosophy 
and science have made immense progress. * * * Sim¬ 

ilarly, before Jesus, religion had passed through many 
revolutions, and since Jesus it has achieved a great con¬ 
quest ; yet we have not advanced and never will improve 
upon the essential principles Jesus erected. He fixed 
forever the idea of pure worship. 

“ Whatever may be the transformation of dogma, Jesus 
will ever be the Creator of the pure spirit of religion • the 
Sermon on the Mount will never be surpassed. No matter 
what revolution takes place, nothing will prevent our 
attaching ourselves in religion to the grand intellectual and 
moral line at the head of which is enshrined the name of 
Jesus. 

“ And this great foundation was indeed the personal work 
of Jesus. To make Himself adored to this degree He must 
indeed have been adorable. Love is only kindled by an 
object worthy of it; and we should know nothing of Jesus 
if it were not for the passion He inspired in those around 
Him, which obliges us still to affirm that He was great and 
pure. The faith, the enthusiasm, the constancy, of the first 
Christian generation is only explicable on the supposition 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


213 


that at its inception there existed a man of transcendent 
greatness. 

“ Let us place, then, at the highest summit of human 
greatness the person of Jesus. * * * So far from 

Jesus having been made by His disciples, He appeared in 
everything superior to them. The latter, St. Paul and St. 
John excepted, were men without invention or genius. St. 
Paul himself bears no comparison with Jesus; and as to 
St. John, he has done little more in Apocalypse than to 
breathe the poetry of Jesus. Hence the immense superi¬ 
ority of the gospels among the writings of the New Testa¬ 
ment. Hence the painful lowering of sentiment we 
experience in passing from the history of Jesus to that of 
the apostles. The evangelists themselves, who have trans¬ 
mitted to us the image of Jesus, are so much beneath Him 
of whom they speak that they constantly disfigure Him, not 
being able to attain to His height.” 

Miss Frances Power Cobbe, in discussing the genuine¬ 
ness of the gospels and the sublimity of Christ’s teachings, 
said: 

“ The originator of the Christian movement must have 
been the greatest soul of His time, as of all*time. If He 
did not speak those words of wisdom, who could have 
recorded them for Him? ” 

In the words of Theodore Parker: 

“ It would have taken a Jesus to forge a Jesus.” 

Rousseau, in discussing this subject with a friend, forcibly 
remarked: “ Shall we suppose the evangelical history a 
mere fiction? Indeed, my friend, it bears no mark of 
fiction. On the contrary, the history of Socrates, which no 


214 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


one presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as that of 
Jesus Christ. Such a supposition, in fact, only shifts the 
difficulty without obviating it; it is more inconceivable that 
a number of persons should agree to write such a history 
than that one should furnish the subject of it. The Jewish 
authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to the 
morality contained in the Gospel. The marks of its truth 
are so striking and inimitable, that the inventor would be a 
more astonishing character than the hero.” 

Denis Diderot, the French philosopher, in one of those 
evening parties of Baron d’Holbach, where the most cele¬ 
brated infidels of that day were wont to assemble and 
ridicule the so-called absurdities of the Bible, brought the 
conversation suddenly to a close on one occasion by the 
following unexpected speech, that astonished his hearers 
and produced a prolonged silence: 

“ For a wonder, gentlemen, for a wonder, I know no¬ 
body, either in France or anywhere else, who could write 
and speak with more art and talent. Notwithstanding all 
the bad which we have said, I defy you all— as many as 
are here — to prepare a tale so simple, and at the same time 
so sublime and so touching, as the tale of the passion and 
death of Jesus Christ, which produces the same effect, 
which makes a sensation as strong and as generally felt, 
and whose influence will be the same after so many 
centuries.” 

It is to-day a conceded fact that all the combined and co¬ 
operative efforts of the greatest and wisest men who have 
ever appeared could not have originated, with their re¬ 
generative force, these teachings that have been attributed 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


215 


to Jesus Christ. They are divinely perfect. The works 
of all other men are stamped with the impress of locality, 
race, national thought, tendencies and prejudices; but 
Christ’s teachings are universal in their application, opera¬ 
tion and fitness, and are as catholic as humanity. 

As a refining, elevating system of morality and religion, 



RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON. 


these teachings are applicable and pre-eminently appro¬ 
priate to all races and nationalities wherever found. 

In their regenerative influence and power, Christ’s teach¬ 
ings are not temporary or local, for eighteen centuries of 
time have tested and proved them to be enduring, and 
capable of acting on all ages and nations, on all tempera¬ 
ments and conditions of men. The wisest and greatest of 
earth have been regenerated by them, and men of the 
highest moral force of character have profited and been 





216 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


elevated by their influence. Christianity has penetrated 
and touched a tender chord in the hearts alike of the edu¬ 
cated and uneducated, civilized and savage, bursting every 
trammel that has been imposed by locality, nationality, 
intellectual, social, moral and religious training and envi¬ 
ronments. 

Men of profound intellect and wisdom have spent much 
time and labor in endeavoring to write a parable that in 
moral grandeur, spiritual force and attractiveness would 
equal the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” but every 
attempt has failed. 

The history of the past ages conclusively establishes the 
fact that the greatest and wisest of men never have and 
never will produce anything that will equal the “ Sermon 
on the Mount,” Christ’s parables and His other teachings. 

We have shown that the great central reason why these 
teachings have occupied such a lofty, commanding place is 
because all the rays of divine light and influence that are 
centered in and that have emanated from Christ’s intel¬ 
lectual greatness, self-sacrificing, perfect life and char¬ 
acter, have entered into and become a cohesive vital part 
of His teachings. 

If there are any facts that history makes certain, it is 
that Christ’s biographers did not originate these perfect 
teachings, and that they have truthfully attributed them to 
Jesus Christ as their divine source. 

Again, we have shown that these witnesses related in 
minute detail the prophetical vision of Christ in reference 
to the growth of His new spiritual kingdom, the spread of 
His Gospel, and the mighty effect His life, character and 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


2L7 


teachings would have on subsequent generations — all of 
which, as we have also shown, have been miraculously 
fulfilled. 

The inevitable reflex force of these facts and the long 
chain of corroborative evidence herein presented confirm 
the conclusion that these witnesses and biographers, in 
their descriptions and delineations of Christ’s life, character 
and teachings, have given a correct history, and one that 
ought to inspire universal faith in His precepts as being the 
verified “Word of God.” 


As an appropriate appendix to this chapter, we quote 
the following from the published report of a recent sermon 
by Cardinal Gibbons :— 

“ It is fashionable, as well as profitable, to cast odium, 
as well as ridicule, on Christianity and the sacred Scrip¬ 
tures, which are the basis of the Christian religion. A 
man of limited capacity, but of fluency of speech and 
shafts of wit, can propose objections and difficulties in a 
half-hour which may take a learned man a month to 
answer. 

“I would ask you, my brethren, to have three answers 
ready in your mind when you are confronted by any diffi¬ 
culties against Christianity: 

“ First. Ten thousand difficulties do not make a single 
doubt, and ten thousand doubts do not destroy a single 
fact of Revelation; ten thousand layers of fog and cloud 
do not blot out the sun in the heavens nor diminish its 
splendor. 



218 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


“ Second. The Christian religion has been in possession 
for two thousand years, and has been cherished by the 
wisest and best of men in every age and country, and it is 
stronger to-day than it was ever before. 

“ Third. All the civilizations of the past and all existing 
civilizations to-day worthy of the name have been based 
on the doctrinal and moral principles of the Bible. 

“ Jt is time enough to surrender our Christianity when 
some better system is brought forward to supplant it. 

“ Let us transport ourselves in spirit to the dawn of the 
Christian era, and let us stand in imagination on one of 
pagan Lome’s seven hills. We see at our feet that im¬ 
mense city teeming with a population of about three million 
inhabitants. We observe that city dotted here and there 
with idolatrous temples, and niches to false gods are erected 
at the corners of the streets. In the words of the apostle 
of the Gentiles, 4 They changed the glory of the incor¬ 
ruptible God into the image and likeness of corruptible 
man and of birds and beasts and creeping things, and they 
worship the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed 
forevermore.’ 

“ Such was the condition of society when our Lord 
appeared on the theater of public life. He called around 
Him twelve insignificant men — men without wealth, men 
without human learning, men without the prestige of fame, 
men without any of those elements which are considered 
essential for the success of any great enterprise. He com¬ 
mands them to effect the most mighty moral revolution 
which has ever taken place in the history of the world. 
He commands them to uproot idolatry from the face of the 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


219 


earth and to establish instead of this the worship of the 
one true and living God and to dispel the most cherished 
and inveterate passions from the heart of man, and to 
plant in their stead the peaceful reign of Jesus Christ. 

“No thoughtful man can fail to admire the wisdom of 
God in employing such inadequate means (humanly speak¬ 
ing) in the propagation of the Gospel. For, if He had 
appeared as a temporal sovereign, with all the pomp and 
majesty of royalty; if He had used the influence of the 
Caesars, and if He had impressed into His service 
the imperial armies, the world would justly exclaim: 
6 There is no miracle here, for it is not by the finger of 
God, but by the arm of the flesh that Christianity was 
propagated.’ For, if the Gospel had been advocated by 
the orators, philosophers, statesmen, and poets of ancient 
Home, the world would again cry out: ‘ There is no 
miracle here, for Christianity was developed not by the 
folly of the Cross, but by the persuasive words of human 
wisdom.’ For, if men were induced to embrace the Church 
by bribes and emoluments, the world would justly say: 
‘ There is no miracle here, for men were drawn to the 
Church not by the pearl of great price, but by the gold 
that glitters ; ’ but when they contrasted the weakness of 
the instruments with the marvelous work performed they 
were forced to exclaim : i The finger of God is here.’ 

“ It may be interesting and instructive to us to consider 
some of the principal causes which, under the irresistible 
influence of God’s grace, operated so powerfully in the 
rapid diffusion of the Christian religion. 

“First, the Christian religion gave the pagan world a 


220 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


rational idea of God. It proclaimed a God essentially one 
and self-existing, a God existing from eternity unto eternity. 
It spoke of a God who created all things by His wisdom, 
and whose superintending providence watches over the 
affairs of nations as well as of men. It spoke of a God 
infinitely just and merciful, infinitely holy, infinitely wise. 

“ Second, the Christian religion not only gave man a 
sublime idea of his Creator, but gave him also a rational 
idea about himself. Hitherto man was a mystery and a 
riddle to himself. He knew not whence he came or 
whither he was going. The Christian religion gave not 
only life to his understanding, but peace as well to his 
heart. It brought him that peace of God which passeth 
all understanding and which springs from a conscious pos¬ 
session of the truth. It brought him a triple peace — 
peace with God, by teaching him to keep the command¬ 
ments ; peace with his neighbor, by enjoining the virtues 
of justice and charity; peace with himself, by instructing 
him to keep his passions subject to reason, and reason 
subject to the law of God. 

“ But it will profit us nothing to be enrolled in the army 
of the Lord, in the Church militant, unless we are person¬ 
ally clothed in the panoply of Christian righteousness. 
The only victories to be put to our credit are those that we 
personally achieve. 

“ All the works of God have one striking characteristic, 
they all bear the divine stamp of individuality. There are 
no two stars alike in magnitude and splendor; there are no 
two leaves of the forest alike; there are no two grains of 
sand absolutely identical; there are no two human faces 


CREDIBILITY OF BIOGRAPHERS AND WITNESSES. 


221 


alike. In this vast congregation before me there are no 
two dispositions in all respects identical. Every one of 
yon is a world in yourself. 

“ God loves each of you personally. He does not con¬ 
template the human family in the mass as we regard a heap 
of sand. He has loved each of you with an eternal love. 
I always admire the remarkable utterance of St. Paul: 
4 Christ loved me and delivered Himself up for me.’ He 
does not say Christ loved us, but me, as if to remind us 
that Christ’s love for Paul himself was as strong as if 
concentrated on himself and not upon the whole human 
race. And as God’s love is centered on us, so should we 
center our love on God. We know where Christ is to be 
found. Let us ask Him to come and reign over our 
souls — intellect, will, memory.” 



13 


CHAPTEK V. 


AT THE MOMENT OF THE BETRAYAL JUDAS POSSESSED 
SUPREME CONFIDENCE IN JESUS CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH, 
AND HIS MOTIVES HAVE BEEN MISJUDGED. 


[EK John the Baptist announced the 
Kingdom of God at hand and introduced 
Christ as the Son of God, the Hebrew 
nation was ardently anticipating the 
coming of a Messiah. The superhuman 
manifestation of Christ’s life inspired 
His disciples with unbounded faith in 
Him, but the aggressive course pursued 
toward the doctors of the law and the 
leaders in authority brought Him in conflict with the rulers. 

They had construed the prophetic “Messiah” to be a 
divine King, who as a conquering hero would come in the 
name of the Lord, re-establish Israel, and maintain a 
throne of imperial splendor. They believed that Jerusalem, 
with her buildings constructed of marble and her gates of 
pearl, would be the capital, from which would issue a reign 
of universal peace and righteousness that would embrace 
all nations. But contrary to the ardent hopes and expecta¬ 
tions of the rulers of this people, Christ denounced their 
modes of worship, their traditional teachings and ordi- 
( 222 ) 



















judas’ motives misjudged. 


223 


nances, and declared it to be a perverse, wicked genera¬ 
tion. He appealed to the common people to ignore the 
teachings of the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees and 
follow him as the Messiah. 

Christ’s every movement clearly indicated the most 
earnest aggression against the time-honored institutions, 
the constructions of the law, and modes of worship then 
taught and adhered to by this nation. 

The Sermon on the Mount, the selection of the twelve 
apostles, his charge to them, together with such table-talk 
as the uselessness of putting new wine into old bottles, so 
alarmed the rulers that they resolved to put Him to death, 
and therefore commanded His arrest. The officers found 
Him discussing the doctrines of His kingdom and mission ; 
and being overawed by his heart-searching words, they 
retired without attempting His arrest, but with the amazing 
return, “never man spake like this man.” 

Christ’s achievement of unprecedented victories inten¬ 
sified the faith of His disciples, and He inquired of 
them: 

“ Whom do men say that I am? ” 

They replied: 

“John the Baptist; but some say Elias, and others one 
of the prophets.” 

He then asked: 

“ Whom say ye that I am? ” 

Peter, knowing the disciples’ opinion, replied: 

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

In attending the Passover immediately preceding the 
betrayal, the disciples exhibited unbounded faith by spread- 


224 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


ing in the highway their clothes and branches of palm, and 
by joining the multitude in proclaiming: 

“ Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the 
Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” 

Christ was requested to rebuke them, but knowing their 
anticipations of royalty in the coming Messianic kingdom, 
He replied: 

“ I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the 
stones would immediately cry out.” 

This expression of supreme recognition of Christ as 
King, coming in the name of the Lord, exhibits on the 
part of His disciples not only evidence of their boundless 
anticipations, but is conclusive that they entertained errone¬ 
ous convictions as to the nature of the Messianic kingdom. 
They believed that the course He was pursuing as a 
teacher, and in the performance of miracles, was a means 
of inspiring faith in His followers and of authenticating 
His divine mission preparatory to the inauguration of His 
kingdom then supposed to be near at hand. 

As an evidence of the popular belief among Christ’s fol¬ 
lowers that his temporal reign as king was about to be 
established, it is recorded that Salome, with her two sons, 
James and John, approached Christ and requested that He 
permit them to sit on His throne, one on the right and the 
other on his left hand. This intense manifestation in seek¬ 
ing royal preferment, together with the wrangle among 
some of the disciples on another occasion as to their posi¬ 
tions in His kingdom, and their enthusiastic and triumphant 
entry with Him into Jerusalem are a few of the many 
evidences that render it morally certain, judging their 


CHRIST ENTERING JERUSALEM. 




































■ 


























































































































































• '*•. 


V-’ 




































judas’ motives misjudged. 


227 


actions as we would those of ordinary men, that they ex¬ 
pected the establishment of a kingdom in harmony with 
Jewish anticipations, and that Christ would inaugurate it 
during the Passover then at hand. 

The all-important question, therefore, presents itself: 
Had Judas at the moment of the betrayal lost faith? The 
facts, we affirm, not only establish the manifest conclusion 
that he had not, but also the assumption that at this 
supreme moment it was exalted. 

The theory that love of money incited the fearless act 
cannot, in the light of the evidence, be maintained. 

Mark says: 

“ Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief 
priests to betray unto them. And when they heard it 
they were glad, and promised to give him money.” 

Matthew says: 

“ They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” 

There is no intimation that Judas demanded money as 
a condition precedent to the betrayal. We submit that no 
one on a proper consideration of the facts that form the 
res gestce of this stupendous transaction can believe that 
it was prompted by the desire for money. 

Fleetwood, in his “Life of Christ,” says: 

“ Others think that Judas betrayed his Master through 
covetousness; but if we understand by covetousness the 
reward given by the priests, this opinion is equally defec¬ 
tive, for the sum was too small for the most sordid wretch 
to consider as an equivalent for the life of a friend, 
especially when he expected from him the highest posts 
and advantages.” 


228 


JUDAS MOTIVES MISJUDGED. 


This conclusion is sustained by the facts. Those in 
authority had become alarmed at Christ’s teaching’s, 
movements, and the influence He was wielding over the 
common people. 

Judas had seen them make several ineffectual attempts 
to arrest Christ, which he had evaded as if possessing a 
charmed life. He had seen Christ overawe officers by the 
power and heart-searching effects of His words, and had 
seen a crowd of money-changers rush from the temple 
before His scathing rebuke, leaving the judges and other 
officers trembling in amazement without any attempt to 
check Him. 

Judas had seen the daily supernatural manifestations of 
Christ’s life, and was familiar with the burning anxiety of 
those in authority to end His career as a means of pre¬ 
serving their old institutions, which were as dear to them 
as life itself. He was also informed as to the wealth at 
their command, and He knew the chief priest and rulers 
would gladly pay any reasonable price to insure indemnity 
against Him and His influence. 

We ask, can it, with any degree of plausibility, be 
insisted in the light of these facts that the calm, calcu¬ 
lating Judas accepted fifteen dollars as the inducement 
to the betrayal? 

If money had been what he desired, this intense, anxious 
crowd, with so much involved, would have given thousands 
of dollars, if it had been demanded as a condition prece¬ 
dent, as cheerfully as they did the fifteen; and this no one 
knew better than Judas. 

To fully appreciate this question, we must keep prom- 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


229 


inently before us Christ’s phenomenal life and char¬ 
acter. 

Skeptical scientists, however, tell us that they do not 
believe in the supernatural; therefore, they have no faith 
in Christ’s alleged physical miracles. 

In all ages there have existed men whose dispositions, 
character, and natural biases have in a great degree inclined 
them to skepticism ; and there are others who doubt because 
they have failed to examine the evidence bearing on this, 
the question of all questions. 

This is a busy, commercial age; and it is unreasonable 
to ask this generation to accept any phenomenon when its 
truth cannot be sustained by satisfactory evidence. It may 
be expected that intelligent men will not accept the Chris¬ 
tian theory of a progressive revelation unless it can be 
maintained by evidence that logically establishes its truth. 

We are in perfect harmony with this sentiment and 
reasonable demand. If the Christian religion cannot be 
vindicated by satisfactory evidence, when its probative 
force is analyzed and considered, as we weigh evidence 
establishing any other fact, then it should be rejected ; but 
if it can, it ought to be accepted. 

Some say they do not believe in the supernatural because 
they have never seen a clear, unmistakable manifestation of 
it; and yet it is a known fact that they are daily surrounded 
by evidence which logically and irresistibly establishes the 
existence of miraculous phenomena which cannot possibly 
be accounted for or explained on any known natural law or 
principle, if we reject the existence of the supernatural. 

In the origin of life there is presented a mystery that the 


230 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


skeptical scientists have not and never will account for 
except on the theory of a designing God and a supernat¬ 
ural revelation. They tell us that life is the antecedent of 
present life, and that is as far as they can go, as much as 
they can inform us of its origin. 

They are confronted with the admitted fact that there 
was a time in the formation of the earth when it was noth¬ 
ing but a mass of hot fluid, where animal life could not 
possibly exist. When the earth cooled and was prepared 
for life, it came; but whence and how, no law of inorganic 
matter can account or explain. 

The skeptical scientist has said that it is possible life 
came on some meteoric stone from another already formed 
and inhabited world. But this suggestion demonstrates 
that its origin is still a mystery, and it involves a miracle 
equally as great as any that has been attributed to Jesus 
Christ. The truth is, the origin of life and the author of 
creation have always been shrouded in deep mystery, except 
as light has been shed upon them by a progressive and 
supernatural revelation. 

If the doubting skeptic could have existed at a point of 
time prior to all creation, and could have seen, in response 
to the gradually progressive laws of nature, the myriad 
worlds, the burning stars, the sun and moon, come into exist¬ 
ence and assume their appropriate places in creation, main¬ 
taining and continuing in beauty and harmony for all the 
ages, it would have appeared as a sublime manifestation of 
the supernatural, involving a problem that would have been 
infinitely harder to explain, comprehend, or understand than 
that of Christ raising Lazarus from death and the grave. 


JESUS APPEARS WALKING ON TIIE SEA 
















































. 







































































































































































































judas’ motives misjudged. 


233 


The people of this generation have not seen Christ per¬ 
form any alleged miracles, but they have the evidential 
facts of history that corroborate the miraculous character 
delineated by the writers of the New Testament, which 
develops a phenomenon that is equally as mysterious as 
that of feeding five thousand people with a few loaves and 
fishes. 

Christ’s divinely attractive life, and the unprecedented 
and miraculous influences that have emanated from it, 
coupled with His consciousness of greatness, His divine 
relationship and perfect life, by its inherent evidential 
force should be sufficient to inspire faith in any well- 
authenticated miracle that has been ascribed to Him. 

A miracle performed in the moral and spiritual realm is 
equally as mysterious and inexplicable as a miracle per¬ 
formed in the physical universe; and if there exists a God 
who is able to perform miracles in the one, there can be 
no reason why He may not do the same in the other. 

If Christ was the Messiah, the only begotten Son of 
God, it is but natural to believe that He did make a su¬ 
pernatural manifestation of the fact by an exhibition of 
His divine power in the performance of physical miracles as 
a means of authenticating His divine mission. Forcibly 
bearing upon this question, He said: 

“ I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father 
that sent Me beareth witness of Me.” “ If I do not the 
w T orks of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though 
ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know 
and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him.” 

These statements clearly show that Christ was conscious 


234 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


that He possessed two distinct sources of divine power, 
both of which plainly attested His mission. The first was 
His self-evidencing superhuman character of intellectual 
greatness, wisdom and sinless perfection ; and the second 
was the consciousness of His divine relationship, that He 



THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 


felt and claimed should be sufficient to authenticate His 
divine mission and inspire faith in His teachings. He said : 

“ And because I tell you the truth, you believe Me not. 
Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And if I say the 
truth, why do you not believe Me.” 

It was in this connection that He strongly affirmed His 
divinity by saying: 

“ Before Abraham was, I am.” 










judas’ motives misjudged. 


235 


But when the people failed to believe Christ, even after 
these manifestations, He appealed to His works, which He 
declared bore evidence that the Father was in Him and He 
in the Father. The works alluded to were no doubt the 
physical miracles that His biographers so graphically and 
in detail describe in their delineations of His remarkable 
career. 

After John the Baptist had been cast into prison, he sent 
two of his disciples to Christ to know as a matter of cer¬ 
tainty whether or not He was the Messiah. 

Jesus said: “ Go and show John again those things 
which ye do hear and see : the blind receive their sight, the 
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the 
dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached 
to them.” 

This self-evidencing character has been tested for cen¬ 
turies. The clear light that reflected from Christ, and that 
is energizing and shining to-day, enables us to comprehend 
and appreciate His divine character more perfectly than 
His disciples could have done without the aid of physical 
miracles. This test is more convincing to the present gen¬ 
eration than is that of His alleged miracles. 

But the Hebrew nation had been taught that the great 
test of divine power was manifested in the performance of 
physical miracles. Therefore, the evidential force of 
Christ’s life and all the light that has emanated from it 
make it credible, we urge, to believe that His biographers 
have given a correct delineation of His miraculous works, 
and with these works Judas was daily in contact. 

Hence, judging His motives in the light of this super- 


236 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


human life, it is reasonable to believe that the insignificant, 
paltry sum of fifteen dollars was no part of the inducement 
that incited to the betrayal. It is evidently clear that Judas 
was dominated by a more laudable motive, and one that 
culminated in results that are in harmony with Christ’s plan 
and divine mission. 



JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET. 


If money did not inspire the betrayal, then what did 
prompt it? 

We have shown that Christ’s disciples had looked for¬ 
ward to the inauguration of the Messianic kingdom at 
the Passover, when multiplied thousands were gathered 
together, and had anticipated a movement that would de- 





































judas’ motives misjudged. 


237 


throne Roman rule and establish Israel, with her dominions 
embracing both land and sea. 

But to their disappointment, Christ made no aggressive 
movement. On the contrary, He continued, as formerly, 
His work as a teacher. The crowd became restless and dis¬ 
appointed, and Judas no doubt was impressed with the idea 
that the supreme moment had arrived in which to commence 
the desired action, and that any delay might prove fatal. 
He therefore resolved to bring about a movement that 
would precipitate the matter, believing that if Christ were 
delivered into the hands of His enemies it would result in a 
glorious display of divine power, and inspire the people to 
come to His aid. No doubt Judas reasoned in this wise: 

Notwithstanding that orders for Christ’s arrest have been 
out for more than a year, He has successfully overawed 
officers, and has openly continued His mission. I have 
seen Him cleanse the leper, restore sight to the blind, cause 
the dumb to speak and the deaf to hear, miraculously feed 
five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes ; and now, 
if by the betrayal a conflict shall be brought about with 
such an all-conquering general, there can be no doubt as to 
the result. If any of His soldiers should be wounded or 
killed, He can heal or restore them to life. If provisions 
should be exhausted, His creative power is boundless. 
Caesar, with his mighty army, will tremble, quail and sur¬ 
render at His command. With such a leader Israel will be 
re-established, and the results that are so much desired will 
be consummated. The twelve apostles, as privy councilors, 
will aid in ruling the world from sea to sea, and to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. 


238 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


With such alluring anticipations, Judas felt justified in 
attempting to precipitate the movement. 

The theory that money induced Judas to betray Christ 
cannot, in the light of the surroundings, be sustained; but 
the theory above outlined is irresistible, when the evidence 
is weighed that sheds light on the motive that inspired the 
fearless act. 

It is clear that the seductive temptation for position, 
coupled with boundless faith that any effort to put Christ 
to death would result in a Godly display of His divine 
powers and a triumphant issue in the establishment of the 
Messianic kingdom, prompted the betrayal. 

As convincing evidence bearing on this theory, Christ 
often, in the presence of His disciples, before any steps had 
been taken toward the betrayal, graphically referred to it, 
together with the effect of the Cross in drawing all men to 
Him. 

Again, in talking to His disciples, He said: 

“Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Pass- 
over, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.” 

At the supper-table, the night of the betrayal, He 
said: 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall 
betray Me.” 

The disciples 'expressed great sorrow, and every one of 
them began to ask : 

“ Lord, is it I? ” 

Jesus, answering, said: 

“ He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the 
same shall betray Me.” 


THE LAST SUPPER 


























judas’ motives misjudged. 


241 


“ Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, 
Master, is it I? 

“ He said unto him: 

“ Thou hast said, * * * That thou doest, do 

quickly.” 

Judas no doubt was electrified and inspired by this im¬ 
perative command of approval. He took only one more 
morsel, and in obedience to Christ’s request left the 
table and went in haste for Jesus’ enemies, believing 
that He was anxiously awaiting the conflict as one 
that would result in the crowning victory of His earthly 
career. 

St. John records that immediately after Judas left the 
table, Jesus said : 

“ Now is the Son of Man glorified,* and God is glorified 
in Him.” 

It may be possible that Christ’s prior reference to His 
betrayal made the impression upon Judas that it was a 
part of the divine plan to be enacted in the inauguration 
of the Messianic kingdom. It is, however, clear that 
Judas had a sincere conviction that no injury would result 
to his Lord. 

One fact is certain: It was Christ who first thought of 
and mentioned the betrayal; and that immediately after 
Judas entered upon the execution of his agreement, Christ 
triumphantly said: 

“ Now will the Son of Man be glorified, and God will 
be glorified in Him.” 

These triumphant expressions, in connection with 
Christ’s command to Judas to quickly enter upon his 


242 


judas’ motives misjudged 


mission, and the immediate introduction of the sacrificial 
supper, are significant. 

The contention that Judas’ kiss, as a means of identify¬ 
ing Christ to His enemies, was hypocritical is without the 



JESUS TEACHING THE DISCIPLES. 


slightest foundation, and had its origin in a misconception 
of this apostle’s motive. Christ in substance said to Judas 
that He was aware of his agreement of betrayal, and 
commanded him to enter quickly upon its execution. 

No doubt Judas thought that the most appropriate 
























judas’ motives misjudged. 


243 


manner of pointing out Christ to His enemies in the in- 
cipiency of a conflict that He believed would result in a 
triumphant issue and crowning glory was by an affection¬ 
ate kiss. There could have been no hypocrisy in the 
transaction, but it exhibits strong evidence of an affec¬ 
tionate disposition and regard for Christ, and maintains 
our conclusion as to the motives that inspired the act. 
No transaction after the agreement of betrayal could have 
been more open, and no friends could have dealt with each 
other in a more candid and frank manner than did Christ 
and Judas. 

The theory that it was an act of hypocrisy involves 
deception on Judas’ part, when as a matter of fact, there 
is no view that can be taken of the purpose and object 
of the kiss that would confirm this theory. Clearly, at 
that dreadful moment, Christ perfectly understood Judas’ 
movements, and of this fact Judas was fully aware, 
and believed that Christ was anxiously awaiting his 
coming. 

Great light is shed upon this pathetic tragedy when we 
keep before us the fact that the crucifixion was an orig¬ 
inal, vital, and essential part of the Messianic plan and 
mission, and that Christ regarded it as the crowning act 
of His earthly career. When all the evidential light is 
turned upon this transaction, it is clear that the kiss was 
inspired, and born in love for Christ. 

Judas’ conduct after seeing Christ willingly going to 
His cross and death farther corroborates this view. When 
he heard Christ say, in replying to Pilate: 

“ My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were 

14 


244 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


of this world, then would My servants tight that I should 
not be delivered to the Jews.” 

Then, for the first time, no doubt, the true meaning of 
Christ’s mysterious words: “ I, if I be lifted up from the 
earth, will draw all men unto Me. I am the resurrection 
and the life,” dawned upon Judas with crushing and 
withering effect, and He was like a majestic oak struck 
by lightning. 

The consequence of his misguided judgment, involving 
the life of his innocent Lord, and the blasting of his own 
ardent anticipations, presented to him an appalling picture. 
In haste he rushed to the chief priests from whom he had 
received the money, and declared to them that he had be¬ 
trayed innocent blood, and pathetically pleaded for Jesus’ 
release. When it was refused, with a broken heart he 
hurriedly sought the silent chamber of death. 

If we appeal to the entire history of the world, not one 
precedent can be found where a man has premeditated and 
committed a crime who from remorse alone immediately 
took his life when there was no fear of punishment in¬ 
volved, as in the case of Judas. 

It is a well-established fact that men who commit pre¬ 
meditated crime never immediately resort to suicide from 
remorse; though men often, thinking their agency will not 
be detected, on discovering their error and then realizing 
the consequences that must follow, commit suicide, not 
from remorse, but to escape the consequences, preferring 
death by their own hand to the punishment and disgrace 
that must follow. 

A knowledge of the wickedness of crime often fast- 



JUDAS BARGAINING WITH THE COUNCIL 


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t 


























t 









I 




































judas’ motives misjudged. 


247 


eus itself into the heart and conscience of the criminal, 
and, while brooding' over it for months and sometimes for 
years, he will finally in desperation resort to suicide to rid 
himself of its effect. 

Sometimes men premeditate murder to be immediately 
followed by suicide. In these cases the suicide is not 
from remorse, but as a means of avoiding what appear 
to be the unbearable surroundings that have inspired and 
led to the murder. Suicide has been resorted to from 
disappointment in love or from blasted anticipations. 

Men who have accumulated fortunes, and have arranged 
for comfort, ease, and pleasure, sometimes, as the result 
of a misguided step, have seen their castles crumble and 
fall at their feet, and the effect has been so disheartening 
as to result in desperation and suicide. 

It is clear that Judas had bright anticipations in regard 
to aiding Christ in ruling the Messianic kingdom; and 
when the horrible picture arose before him that involved 
the certain death of Christ and the blasting of His earthly 
hopes, we should not be surprised at the result. 

We confidently assert that no case can be found in 
history of a man who has contemplated crime and then 
committed suicide from remorse alone before the conse¬ 
quences of his act had been fully accomplished, when 
there existed no fear of detection and punishment. 

Judas well knew that he was in the hands of the dis¬ 
pensing power and leaders in authority, who would of 
necessity and naturally lionize rather than punish him. 
But he had no sympathy with these people, wdiose lives 
he had often heard Jesus denounce; besides, his love for 


248 


judas’ motives misjudged: 


and devotion to Christ were absolutely irreconcilable with 
the spirit that could appreciate congratulations from them. 

When we examine Judas’ conduct in the light of all 
the surrounding facts, as we would that of any other 
ordinary man, his motives become manifest, especially 
when considered in connection with the disciples’ trium¬ 
phant entry into Jerusalem, immediately preceding the 
betrayal, proclaiming, “ Blessed be the King that cometh 
in the name of the Lord,” together with their sad dis¬ 
appointment at Christ’s movements after reaching the 
city, the conversation at the supper-table: “ Master, is it 
I?” “Judas, thou hast said.” “That thou doest, do 
quickly.” One more morsel, and he “ quickly ” leaves 
his supper and enters upon his mission. 

Also in this connection, on discovering that Christ was 
willingly going to the Cross, he rapidly rushed before the 
Sanhedrim with an earnest plea in behalf of Christ’s in¬ 
nocence, throwing down the money at their feet, and 
pathetically proclaiming to them and to the world that he 
had betrayed innocent blood, and that death was a bliss¬ 
ful refuge from such heart-aching self-reproaches as 
would follow him through life. 

There never has been presented to the world a more 
pitiable picture than that of Judas on discovering his fatal 
error. Ko man ever more sincerely regretted from the 
depths of his heart, or was more completely crushed, than 
was Judas on discovering that his mistaken judgment and 
rash act had involved such sad consequences. 

Assuming this theory to be clearly established, the 
question arises, Why did he accept the money? 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


249 


The answer to this question is simple and plain. The 
leaders in authority had agreed to make no farther attempt 
to put Christ to death until after the Passover, fearing an 
uproar of the people • and if Judas had refused the money, 
it would at once have destroyed the confidence of Christ’s 
enemies in him as a bona-fide betrayer, The surroundings 
necessarily forced upon him the acceptance of the money 
as a means of inspiring faith and confidence in his proposed 
act, and to give plausibility to his conduct. 

One fact is certain : the moment he discovered that his 
act was wrong, that he had imperiled the life of Christ, he 
rushed to the chief priests and elders and pleaded for His 
pardon ; and when his plea was ignored, he threw the money 
at their feet and hurriedly took his own life. 

If this theory is not correct, then there was no reason 
or motive for the return of the money, for the plea in 
behalf of Christ’s innocence, or for the suicide that imme¬ 
diately followed the refusal of those in authority to accent 
it or to extend pardon 

Technical students and readers of the Bible have said 
much about Christ’s declarations : “ Woe unto that man by 
whom the Son of Man is betrayed ! It had been good for 
that man if he had not been born.” * * * “ Have not 

I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? ” 

The first of the above quotations was certainly nothing 
more nor less than a prophetical declaration that the conse¬ 
quences of Judas’ misguided judgment, when fully realized, 
would so shock and crush his tender, loving heart that he 
would prefer death. 

As to the expression, “ One of you is a devil,” we do not 


250 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


know fully what was meant by it, nor do we know exactly 
what Christ meant when He used equally harsh language 
to Peter, saying to him, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” 

It is, however, certain that when Christ chose the twelve 
apostles, He had about sixty faithful followers from whom 
to select, and had every opportunity of knowing the 
character of each one. And soon thereafter, no doubt at 
Christ’s suggestion, Judas was selected to the honorable 
and trusted position of treasurer, and from that day to the 
hour of the betrayal there never was heard one word of 
suspicion or complaint against him from Christ or from any 
of the disciples. Several of them have no such compli¬ 
mentary record in their favor. 

The record of St. John, who wrote so harshly about 
Judas, after public sentiment had been infuriated against 
him, is wicked and cruel as compared with that of faultless 
Judas — outside of his conduct in the betrayal, which he 
thoroughly repented of on discovering his error and mis¬ 
take. 

St. John at one time thought that the citizens of a 
Samaritan village had wronged the disciples, and he appealed 
to Christ to call down fire from heaven and cruelly consume 
them, to satisfy his wicked anger and malice. Christ 
harshly rebuked him for entertaining so sinful a thought. 

On another occasion, John and his brother James ap¬ 
proached Christ through the influence of their mother, 
Salome, who was Christ’s aunt, and through their rivalry 
and unholy ambition pleaded for first positions in the 
anticipated new kingdom. 

Peter was not only designated by Christ as being Satan, 














judas’ motives misjudged. 


253 


but he denied his Lord on the night of the betrayal, and 
exhibited a wonderful propensity for lying and cowardice. 

None of the disciples until after the resurrection and 
ascension had any proper conception of Christ’s mission or 
of the character of His kingdom. Previous to the resur¬ 
rection they exhibited a spirit of rivalry and selfishness, and 
wrangled with each other over their positions in the 
anticipated kingdom. 

Again, Christ harshly rebuked Peter, saying: 

“ Get thee behind Me, Satan ; thou art an offense unto 
Me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but 
those that be of men.” 

Judas’ act in the betrayal may have been prompted by 
selfishness, but one fact is clear: he believed it would result 
in a display of Christ’s supernatural power and glory in the 
accomplishment of that which they all so greatly desired. 

Archbishop Whately, in his learned discourse on the 
treason of Judas, says: 

“ The difference between Judas Iscariot and his fellow 
apostles was, that though they all had the same expecta¬ 
tions and conjectures, he dared to act on his conjectures.” 

The thorough German critics, on a recent investigation 
of this question, declare that Judas’ motives in the betrayal 
have been misjudged, and that he never lost faith in his 
Lord. 

DeQuincy, in giving his views of Judas’ motives that led 
to the betrayal, has summed up the German view in har¬ 
mony with his own. In alluding to this German theory, 
he said that Judas was not a traitor in a bad sense; and 
that his movements during the Passover were not intended 


254 


judas’ motives misjudged. 


to crush or retard, but rather to advance Christ’s cause and 
mission. Judas’ reasoning was fallacious, as subsequent 
events developed; but it was just such as an average 
intellect would have pursued before the catastrophe, in 



THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS. 


view of such facts as are now known to the world to have 
been before him. 

Mr. Story, an American sculptor, residing at Rome, has 
written a poem in which he strongly vindicates the same 
views. The old theory in regard to Judas’ motive has 











judas’ motives misjudged. 


255 


made thousands of skeptics. Men have reasoned in this 
wise: 

Judas was with Christ for three years and was honored 
by Him and the disciples with the trusted position of treas¬ 
urer. Not one word of suspicion was heard against him 
up to the time of the betrayal. If he could see nothing 
attractive in Christ’s life and character, and had no con¬ 
fidence in Him, but believed Him worthy of death, or if 
He was willing to aid in taking His life for such a paltry 
sum, then the whole history of Christ’s career has been 
exaggerated. 

From our standpoint, there is a great deal of plausibility 
in this position ; but on a calm investigation of all the facts 
and circumstances, the evidence becomes conclusive that 
Judas’ faith in Christ was supreme and unbounded at that 
moment. 

The only difference between him and the other apostles 
was that he was ambitious and progressive, and had the 
nerve and courage to act on his convictions. When his 
intense hopes and anticipations were blasted, and there 
stood before him Jesus Christ condemned to death in con¬ 
sequence of his misguided judgment, the shock and dis¬ 
appointment crushed his tender, loving heart, and in his 
humiliation and amazement he invoked the mountains to 
hide him, and sought rest under the dreamless sod. 


CHAPTER YI. 


IT IS EVIDENTIALLY CLEAR THAT THE “RESURRECTION,” 
THE GREATEST OF ALLEGED MIRACLES, IS A SACRED 
REALITY. 


have briefly reviewed some of the many 
evidential phases or manifestations of 
Christ’s life and character that differen¬ 
tiate Him from all other men. We have 
pointed out the many rays of divinity 
that converge toward, center in, and 
emanate from His personal character. 
These forge a chain of evidence that raises an irresistible 
presumption that the manifestations of His life have been 
the result of a progressive supernatural revelation, cul¬ 
minating in the “Messiah,” “ God in Christ.” 

As a part of the prophetical picture and description of a 
coming Messiah, it was declared that the “ Holy One ” 
would not see corruption; but, on the contrary, that in 
the issues of death and the grave He would triumph and 
be glorified. 

The disciples did not understand the object of Christ’s 
mission or the nature of the Messianic Kingdom until 
after the resurrection. Thenceforth it was the keynote 
that inspired them to an intensely active life in proclaiming 
His Gospel. Paul said: 

(H«) 









ON THE ROAD TO CALVARY 


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THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


259 


“ If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, 
and your faith is also vain,” and declared that by the 
resurrection Christ had brought immortality to light. 

The resurrection and visible ascension have invested 
Christ’s teachings with sacredness, and have shed a halo 
of glory over His entire life, character and mission. No 
one act of His life, looking to the object and purpose of 
His mission, is more radiant with divine wisdom than that 
manifested in the resurrection. During His life He made 
many references to it. Luke says : 

“ Then He took unto Him the twelve and said unto 
them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things 
that were written by the prophets concerning the Son of 
Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered 
unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully 
entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge Him 
and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise 
again. And they understood none of these things * * * 
which were spoken.” 

Christ accomplished everything undertaken while living, 
and was sinless, perfect and truthful. Therefore, when 
He said He would be put to death and on the third day 
would rise again, it is but reasonable to conclude that 
these events occurred. 

It is universally admitted that on the morning of the 
third day His body was missing from the tomb. Prophecy 
considered in connection with the open grave, the missing 
body, together with Christ’s repeated declaration that He 
would rise, His sinless and otherwise superhuman life 
and character, and the intensely exciting report that 


260 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


He had risen, goes far to establish the truth of the resur¬ 
rection . 

Mary Magdalene, Mary (Christ’s mother), and Salome 
followed His body to the sepulcher, then returned to their 
homes, prepared spices and ointment, and rested on the 
Sabbath. But early the next morning, in accordance with 
the Hebrew custom, they went to the sepulcher to anoint 
His body, and found the tomb open and the body gone. 

Some one in a white robe said to them: “ Be not 

affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was cru¬ 
cified; He is risen.” 

Peter and John, agitated by this report, rushed to the 
open and vacant tomb and found the report confirmed. 
Truly the body was gone. 

The same day two of His followers on the road to Em- 
maus were discussing the report that He had risen, when 
Jesus appeared and entered into conversation with them. 
He said: 

“ O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the proph¬ 
ets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at 
Moses and the prophets, He expounded to them in all the 
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” 

Returning to Jerusalem, they found that while the dis¬ 
ciples were in the temple discussing the resurrection Christ 
had appeared among them, saying: 

“Peace be unto you. * * * Why are ye troubled? 

and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My 
hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and 
see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


261 


have. * * * These are the words which I spake unto 

you while I was yet with you, that all things must be ful¬ 
filled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the 
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me. * * * 

Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, 
and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repent¬ 
ance and remission of sins should he preached in His name 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are 
witnesses of these things.” 

Thomas did not believe the report. But when Jesus 
appeared in the temple, after a full view of Him, he ex¬ 
claimed, “My Lord and my God,” thus expressing perfect 
faith. 

St. Luke, referring to Christ’s appearance to the disci¬ 
ples, said: “ To whom also He showed Himself alive after 
His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God; And being assembled together with 
them, commanded them that they should not depart from 
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, 
saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized 
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost 
not many days hence; * * * and ye shall be wit¬ 

nesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and 
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And 
when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, lie 
was taken up ; and a cloud received Him out of their sight,” 

St. Paul, referring to the resurrection, said: 

“ He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After 
that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; 


2 62 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but 
some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; 
then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of 
me also, as of one born out of due time.” 

Paul’s testimony contains strong inherent force. The 
distance from Corinth to Galilee, where these alleged wit¬ 
nesses to the resurrection resided, was not great, and it 
would have been easy for this open, public letter to have 
been disproved, and Paul shown to have been an impostor 
if it had been false. He said that five hundred saw Him at 
the same time, some of whom had fallen asleep, but the 
greater part of them were still living; and in effect, he 
invited them to go and investigate for themselves if they 
doubted him. 

Luke records that after Christ’s ascension His disciples 
“ were all, with one accord, in one place. And suddenly 
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty 
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of 
fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other 
tongues.” 

Great excitement was created throughout Jerusalem; 
the people were amazed. Some said: “What meaneth 
this?” Others mocked the disciples and said that they 
were drunk; but Peter, who on the night of the betrayal 
had exhibited great cowardice, persistently denying his 
Lord, was now inspired with the courage of a lion, and 
said: 

“Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


263 


be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words : For 
these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the 
third hour of the day. * * * Ye men of Israel, hear 

these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God 
among you, by miracles, and wonders and signs, which 
God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves 
know. * * * Ye have taken and by wicked hands 

have crucified and slain : Whom God hath raised up, hav¬ 
ing loosed the pains of death ; because it was not possible 
that He should be holden of it. * * * This Jesus 

hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. There¬ 
fore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having 
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, 
He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” 

The leaders in authority had Peter and others arrested, 
and said: 

“ Did not we straitly command you that ye should not 
teach in this name? and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem 
with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood 
upon us.” 

Peter and the other apostles answered: 

“ We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of 
our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on 
a tree. * * * And we are His witnesses of these 
things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath 
given to them that obey Him.” 

The chief priests and elders then took counsel to slay 
them ; but they were released at the suggestion of Gamaliel, 
who said: 

‘‘I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them 

15 


264 : 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


alone ; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will 
come to naught: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow 
it; lest happily ye be found even to fight against God.” 

At the crucifixion Peter proved himself a great coward. 
He and the other apostles then regarded their cause as 
hopeless, and separated, each man returning to his own 
vocation. Now we find them banded together with 
invincible hooks of steel and with cords of love, and 
possessing the courage of lions. Unquestionably some¬ 
thing had happened. 

What had so revolutionized these men? They tell us 
that the open, empty grave and Christ’s personal appear¬ 
ances to them had shed new light on the object of His 
mission. 

The first theory urged against the resurrection was that 
the followers of Christ had stolen His body, hidden it, and 
then declared the resurrection. 

After calm and thorough investigation, this theory has 
been abandoned, because in the light of human experience 
it would fiave been an impossibility for the apostles and 
Christ’s disciples to have rebounded from what at His death 
they had regarded as a hopeless cause and to have so 
earnestly advocated the resurrection, sealing the honesty 
of their convictions with their lives of suffering and mar¬ 
tyrdom. 

Their enthusiasm and faith could not have been built upon 
a known falsehood. Men often become martyrs in the 
vindication of theories that afterward prove incorrect; but 
in such cases they always believe them actual realities. 

Therefore, if the friends of Jesus had stolen the body, 



THE ENTOMBMENT OF CHRIST 


(265) 





























































































































- 





































































































































THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


267 


they could not, under the inspiration of a known false¬ 
hood, have so fearlessly asserted His resurrection; nor 
could they have kindled within themselves such enthusiasm 
and faith which they confirmed and sealed with their lives’ 
blood. And to-day the theory that the disciples stole the 
body is not adhered to. 

The truth is, no one can read Peter’s intensely brave 
and solemn assertions of the resurrection, and his declara¬ 
tion that he would seal his testimony in martyrdom rather 
than deny it, in connection with his and the other apostles’ 
subsequent lives, and yet doubt their sincerity. 

The second theory was that the enemies of Jesus had 
stolen His body ; but the same reasoning and principles 
involved in the first proposition disposed of this theory. 
It is now admitted that if they had stolen the body they 
would have produced it as a means of at once and forever 
ending the spread of this religious enthusiasm that was 
ruining their sacred hopes and institutions. It is also 
admitted that the Christians would not have been put to 
death for what their persecutors knew to be an honest and 
sincere faith, which they had themselves created by their 
own stealth and concealment. Hence this theory has been 
abandoned. 

The third theory was that Christ only swooned on the 
Cross and did not die; but that, after being lain in a cool 
tomb and embalmed with spices and ointment, He finally 
revived and again appeared among His disciples. 

The fallacy of this theory is patent, for it was not over 
forty hours after Christ had been taken from the Cross, 
with nail holes punctured through His feet and hands, His 


268 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY 


back lacerated with scourges, and His side pierced with a 
spear, before He apparently had quite recovered from the 
effects of His awful wounds and from His sufferings upon 
the Cross. 

He was pronounced dead by men who had every oppor¬ 
tunity of knowing and whose duty it was to pass upon the 
question of His death, and yet less than forty hours had 
elapsed before it was rumored that He had risen, before the 
grave was declared open and vacant, and it was announced 
that His body had disappeared. 

What must have been the appearance of His wounded, 
swollen feet, hands and side! And could He have so 
easily moved about from place to place, and would such a 
manifestation have appeared to His disciples as the 
44 Prince of Life,” the 44 Lord of Glory,” the 44 Bright 
Morning Star,” inspiring their hopes, aspirations and wild 
enthusiasm? 

Hear St. Peter’s anthem-like outburst: 

44 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath be¬ 
gotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

Again let us note the sacred, solemn words that John 
heard Jesus utter: 

44 1 am the first and the last; I am He that liveth, and 
was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.” 

The swooning theory was therefore soon disposed of. 

Step by step the skeptics have been forced to abandon 
these theories, which they now frankly admit cannot be 
maintained in the light of the evidence on any known 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


269 


principle of human action ; but as a last resort, they have 
advanced the theory of a hallucination or vision. The 
basis on which this has been constructed is substantially 
as follows: 

It is claimed that Mary Magdalene was a very excitable 



THE GUARD AT THE SEPULCHER. 


woman, who had been cured of demoniacal possession 
through the alleged influence of Christ, and who was 
ardently devoted to Him. In her sad distress over His 
death, she visited His sepulcher and there mistook the 
gardener for Jesus. Remembering that Christ had said 
if He were put to death He would rise again, she became 




270 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


excited, and in wild enthusiasm hastened to the apostles 
and the other disciples and proclaimed that she had seen 
Christ. 

It is claimed that this announcement so affected the 
disciples’ emotional natures that they mistook every noise, 
such as the rattling of a window, the shaking of a door 
or the whistling of the wind, for the voice of their adored 
Lord; and that in their excitement they fancied they saw 
Jesus in floating cloud and shadows. 

But strongly confronting this theory we have the ad¬ 
mitted fact of Christ’s death, His burial, the open grave, 
and the missing and unaccounted-for body. Nor can the 
theory that Christ’s body was stolen or that He had 
simply swooned be urged to maintain it. 

Either of these contentions would be destructive of the 
visionary theory, for it is manifestly clear that if the 
friends of Jesus had stolen and hidden the body they 
could not possibly have imagined they had seen, walked 
and talked with Him. 

Even the skeptics now admit that His enemies did not 
steal and conceal the body, for their dearest interest and 
most ardent desire was to crush out the resurrection be¬ 
lief. Therefore, it is self-evident that they did not steal 
the body, and thereby inspire the widespread conviction 
that Jesus whom they had murdered had risen. 

The account given of Christ’s appearance to the dis¬ 
ciples on the way to Emmaus and His conversation with 
them concerning the necessity of a resurrection, in con¬ 
junction with the Old Testament prophecies, His appear¬ 
ance and conversation in the Temple, all support the 


DOUBTING THOMAS CONVINCED 




























































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


273 


theory of an objective, actual appearance and not a 
visionary one. 

Thomas declared that he would not believe the report 
unless he could see and examine the print of the nails in 
His hands and feet, and that of the spear in His side. 
In this skeptical and critical frame of mind, it is alleged 
that Jesus appeared to him, together with the other 
disciples, and that after full investigation, even doubting 
Thomas exclaimed: 

“ My Lord and my God ! ” 

It is also alleged that Christ appeared at the seaside, 
when Peter, in his love and eagerness to be with the risen 
Lord, girt his fisher’s coat about him and waded to the 
shore, where they ate together. It was on this occasion 
that Christ asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and 
requested him, if he did, to “ feed My lambs.” 

In Christ’s alleged appearance to the five hundred, in the 
new instructions and teachings He gave the disciples con¬ 
cerning His kingdom and their future work, and in His 
visible ascension, supported as it is by the evidence, we 
have all the indications of an actual appearance as a means 
of qualifying them for their future work in proclaiming the 
resurrection and carrying the Gospel into all the world. 

Briefly restated, the argument is as follows: 

Speculative skeptics first undertook to account for the 
open, empty grave and the missing body on the theory that 
Christ’s friends had stolen it. But when forced to yield 
this contention, they said that His enemies had stolen the 
body. 

On an investigation of the principles involved in the 


274 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


second contention, they were obliged to surrender that 
position, and then said that Christ only swooned on the 
cross and was not dead when laid in the tomb. 

But the fallacy of this position was soon exposed, and it 
is now frankly admitted that unless the visionary theory be 
correct, the Christian theory of the resurrection has been 
established. 

We most confidently assert that in the light of the 
evidence, the visionary theory cannot be maintained, 
because— 

First.— Prophecy and its fulfillment in Christ’s life raise 
a strong presumption that in the issues of the cross, death 
and the grave, He was glorified . This prophetical picture 
and its fulfillment strongly oppose the visionary theory. 

Second.— Christ’s sinless, divinely attractive and extra¬ 
human life, the original light that He brought into the 
world, and its effect on civilization, coupled with His 
repeated declarations that parts of His mission were the 
cross, death, grave and the resurrection, intensify the 
presumption that He did arise. 

Third.— The admitted facts of Christ’s phenomenal life, 
the cross, death and burial, the open tomb and missing 
body, the report burning and leaping from the hearts of 
those who had investigated the fact that He had risen — 
all these cannot be explained on the visionary theory, 
especially in view of the fact that the highest interests and 
dearest hopes of all the leaders in Judea demanded that 
His missing body be accounted for. 

Fourth.— The alleged resurrection of Christ is supported 
by the evidence of a cloud of witnesses, who had seen Him, 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


275 


had walked, talked and eaten with Him, and who had 
separately and collectively been instructed and taught by 
Him. 

The accounts of Christ’s appearance subsequent to the 
resurrection give in detail the purport of His conversations, 
instructions and commands, that were followed by such an 
immediate and radical revolution in the lives, conduct, 
hopes, aspirations and purposes of those to whom He 
appeared that the greatest cowards were inspired with 
martyr blood, with lion courage and with invincible and 
unconquerable faith, based on the truth of the evidence of 
their own senses. All this most convincingly sustains the 
resurrection, and equally opposes the visionary theory. 

Were all of these witnesses mistaken? 

Skeptics admit that Christ’s followers were honest in 
their convictions and in the belief that He had risen. They 
say, however, that His alleged appearance was an imagi¬ 
nary or visionary conception of overwrought minds, caused 
by the startling reports that the Lord had risen, and by the 
high hopes and anticipations in which they had indulged. 

In direct conflict with this theory is the undisputed fact 
that the disciples’ understanding of the Messianic mission 
was the establishment of a temporal kingdom which they 
had confidently expected to aid Christ in ruling; and that 
at His crucifixion and death their hopes were blasted and 
their cause lost. 

Peter denied and cursed Him, and all the disciples had 
disbanded with the view of returning to their different 
vocations. 

When, on the morning of the third day, Mary Magdalene 


276 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


shouted across the valley and over the mountain tops of 
Judea the report that Christ had risen, Peter and John 
hastened to the tomb, found it empty, and the body of 
Jesus missing. 

It is clear that what they there discovered was not a 
visionary conception, but a stern and sacred reality. They 
found the report of Mary confirmed by the strong evidential 
fact of the open grave and the missing body. 

On the same day Christ appeared to two of His disciples 
who were on their way to Emmaus, joined in their conver¬ 
sation and expounded to them prophecy that explained why 
they should believe the resurrection report. They sat at 
the supper table and saw' Him bless and break bread. 

Christ appeared to the disciples in the Temple, He ate 
broiled fish, and explained to them the necessity for death 
and the resurrection, that repentance and the remission of 
sin might be preached in His name among all nations, 
beginning at Jerusalem. 

Christ appeared to five hundred at one time; He in¬ 
structed His disciples as to His mission and spiritual king¬ 
dom, commanding them to go up to Jerusalem, where it is 
alleged they were endowed with power from on high. 

In the presence of the cross and the open grave, aroused 
to the highest pitch of excitement over what they regarded 
as the appearance and supernatural manifestation of the 
Holy Ghost, Peter declared the resurrection ; and the result 
was the conversion, within a few days, of ten thousand 
people. 

Based on faith in the teachings of Christ and in the 
resurrection, millions of men, women and children in each 


THE FIRST EASTER DAWN 



































THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


279 


successive generation for eighteen centuries have been 
elevated, refined and blessed. When we consider the fact 
that this, the grandest work of the ages, has been accom¬ 
plished through Christ's teachings and through the influence 
of His superhuman life, confirmed by the evidential rays of 
prophecy and His oft-repeated declaration that He would 
be put to death and on the third day would rise again, the 
report that He had risen, coupled with the open sepulcher, 
the missing body and the influence on subsequent genera¬ 
tions that has emanated from these facts, furnishes 
strong presumptive evidence. To be asked to accept all of 
these important historical events and results as fatuous 
dreamings of more than five hundred disordered imagina¬ 
tions is to make an incomparably greater demand on 
our credulity than is made by the most stupendous of 
miracles. 

When the cumulative force of this testimony is consid¬ 
ered, it forges a mighty chain of evidence before which 
the visionary theory vanishes as a mythical phantasm and 
as a doubting skeptical delusion. 

Newman Smyth, in his book, “ Old Faith in New 
Lights,” in discussing the circumstantial evidence that 
supports the resurrection theory, says: 

“ Something happened in Judea which has changed the 
world. Something happened on the morning of the third 
day which has made it a new world for mankind. Some¬ 
thing took place which changed this earth, and the whole 
aspect of life and death, to the eyes of the disciples. Some¬ 
thing occurred which turned mourning into joy, despair into 
courage, darkness into day. 


280 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


“ All things were become new to them — over hillside 
and valley, along the way to Emmaus, over the beach of 
Galilee, and the slopes of Olivet, a new, unearthly light 
was shed, and the earth lay before them transfigured with 
a new hope, and the brightest spots in it were those where 
but yesterday the deepest shadows rested — its place of 
burial. 

“ Something happened upon the morning of the third day 
which changed the most sacred associations of a large com¬ 
pany of men, and the religious habits which had grown with 
their growth from childhood. 

“ A wonderful revolution was wrought in the transference 
of the sanctity of their Sabbath to the Lord’s day. The 
Christian Sunday is still the great circumstantial proof of 
the resurrection upon the first day of the week. What 
teaching could change our day of worship, a day hallowed 
from childhood, and made sacred by the traditions of our 
fathers? Yet something happened in Judea on that first 
day of the week which naturally, spontaneously, without 
conflict and without discussion, so readily that hardly a 
trace remains of the process by which it was accomplished, 
did change the whole religious habit and the most sacred 
associations of Jews exceedingly tenacious of the old tradi¬ 
tions. There is nothing accidental in history — the light 
which put the glory of the Sabbath into shade was the glory 
of the risen Lord. 

“ Something happened then and there which has changed 
this world to all succeeding generations. Something won¬ 
derful and recreative in its power took place upon that 
Easter morning, the enduring results of which are Christian 


THE RESURRECTION A SACRED REALITY. 


281 


homes- and morals, Christian society and culture, Christian 
laws and liberties. 

“ Something happened over eighteen centuries ago in Ju¬ 
dea, on the morning of the third day, which has changed the 
whole current and flow of history ; — men’s lives, the rights 
of children, the lot of slaves, the position of women, the 
whole order of society, all things human are taken lip into, 
and swept along by, a new, resistless movement, which still 
bears upon the crest of its advancing wave the hope of the 
world’s future.” 













CHAPTER VII. 


IT IS EVIDENTIALLY CLEAR THAT CHRIST BY A SUPER¬ 
NATURAL MANIFESTATION INVITED PAUL TO BECOME AN 

APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES. 


AUL was a Jew, educated 
under Gamaliel, and at an 
early age became a rabbi of 
distinction. He possessed a 
bright and massive intellect, 
was a finished scholar and a 
magnetic orator. He was 
devoted to the old ^tradi¬ 
tions of Judea, both social and religious, was popular, 
energetic and enthusiastic in all his undertakings. He 
lived contemporaneous with Christ, and was in sympathy 
with the opposition that existed against Him. 

At an early date after Christ’s death He became a zeal¬ 
ous and destructive persecutor of the Christians. He vol¬ 
untarily applied to the leaders in authority for a commission 
to go to Damascus for the purpose of arresting all Chris¬ 
tians and bringing them to Jerusalem for trial. He hon¬ 
estly believed that he was doing his duty in attempting to 
check what he regarded as a growing evil that was threat¬ 
ening the social and religious institutions of Judea, But 
( 282 ) 





MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


283 


on arriving within sight of Damascus, he and his followers 
were overshadowed by an unearthly light that brought them 
helpless to the ground, and from the effects of which Paul 
was led blind into Damascus, and there converted to 
Christianity. 

It is universally admitted that something occurred near 
Damascus that immediately changed Paul from the perse¬ 
cuting Pharisee to the grandest herald of Christianity that 
has ever appeared, who afterward established many Chris¬ 
tian churches and who wrote to them several of the letters 
that are attributed to him in the New Testament. 

It is conceded by all that Paul wrote the letters to the 
Romans, Galatians, Corinthians, and perhaps others. It is 
farther admitted that he was not an intentional impostor, 
but honestly believed that Christ had made a personal mani¬ 
festation of Himself, and had called him to this work; that 
his life of unconquerable faith and energy, the exposing of 
himself to stripes, perils and martyrdom in the vindication 
of his religious convictions were conclusive evidence of the 
honesty of his purpose. 

But skeptics contend that as a matter of fact Christ 
never appeared to him; that the dying faith of Stephen and 
other marytrs had made so profound an impression upon 
his excitable, nervous nature that when approaching 
Damascus, while wrought to fever heat and unsettled in 
mind, a natural phenomena occurred — probably a thunder 
storm and flash of lightning or a falling meteor — and that 
Paul in his excitement fell to the ground terror-stricken ; 
and while in this abnormal condition his excited imagination 
created the image of Jesus and caused him to fancy that he 


284 


^MANIFESTATION TO FAUL. 



had heard the voice of Him who had been crucified and 
who, it was alleged, had risen; that farther meditation 
caused him to join the Christian Church, and that the same 
nature which made him a vehement persecutor, converted 


THE CONVERSION OF SAUL. 

him into a most active, zealous and enthusiastic missionarv 
and herald of Christianity. 

On the other hand, the contention is that from the call 
of Abraham to Christ’s appearance, God had been at work 
making a progressive, supernatural revelation, and that in 












MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


285 


connection with this work whenever He had needed a man 
to aid Him He had called him in so unmistakable a manner 
as to leave no doubt regarding the divine manifestation, and 
which at once inspired him with an unfaltering and uncon¬ 
querable faith that qualified him for the work in which he 
was needed. It is contended that in God’s call to Abraham 
the supernatural was manifested to such an ^extent that 
Abraham fell upon his face and worshiped God, and that 
his subsequent life exhibited the highest and most unques¬ 
tioning faith and obedience. 

It is contended that when a leader was needed to bring 
the children of Israel out of Egypt, God, by a divine mani¬ 
festation, appeared in a flame of fire out of a bush and 
called Moses to this work. 

Also, that after Moses’ death, God appeared with a drawn 
sword to his successor, Joshua, preceding his attack upon 
Jericho, and announced that he was the Captain of the host 
of the Lord. Joshua worshiped Him, and went forth to 
battle with a courage and heroism that was invincible. 

It is alleged that God appeared to Gideon, Manoah, Sam¬ 
uel and others during the Old Testament dispensation, and 
qualified each for the work He desired him to undertake. 

After Christ’s death and resurrection there was not one 
of His apostles whose habits of life and education fitted or 
qualified him in the highest degree to proclaim Christ’s 
Gospel to the Gentiles, and to write and preserve a memo¬ 
rial of his own work and success for the use and benefit of 
the Church in succeeding ages. 

Paul’s education and training pre-eminently fitted him 

for this work; and as Christianity demanded his service it 

16 


286 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


is contended that Christ by a divine manifestation revolu¬ 
tionized his faith and convictions, thus qualifying him for 
the labors which he entered upon with zeal and prosecuted 
with untiring energy, triumphantly and cheerfully meeting 
opposition, difficulties and perils with the spirit of Christ 
enthroned in him. 

Therefore the only conflict to-day between the skeptical 
or doubting world and the adherents of Christianity is 
limited to what took place near Damascus that so suddenly 
revolutionized Paul’s manner of life, his religious faith and 
spirit. 

Luke, a former companion of St. Paul, who as an edu¬ 
cated physician, had every opportunity of ascertaining the 
facts that led to Paul’s conversion, said: 

“ And as he journeyed he came near Damascus: and 
suddenly there shined round about him a light from 
heaven: 

“ And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto 
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? 

“ And he said, Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord 
said, I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth ; it is hard for 
thee to kick against the pricks. 

“ And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what 
wilt Thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto Him, 
Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what 
thou must do. 

“ And the men which journeyed with him stood speech¬ 
less, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 

“ And Saul arose from the earth ; and when his eyes were 
opened, he saw no man; but they led him by the hand, and 
brought him into Damascus. 



PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA 


( 287 ) 































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































J 




t 


•• 














































































































MANIFESTATION TO PAUL 


289 


“ And he was three days without sight, and neither did 
eat nor drink. 

“And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named 
Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. 
And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 

“ And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the 
street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house 
of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus; for, behold, he 
prayeth. 

“ And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias com¬ 
ing in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive 
his sight. 

“ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many 
of this man, *how much evil he hath done to Thy saints at 
Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief 
priests to bind all that call on Thy name. 

“ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way; for he is a 
chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gen¬ 
tiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will 
shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s 
sake. 

“ And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; 
and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, 
even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou 
earnest, hast sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, 
and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 

“ And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been 
scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was 
baptized. 

“ And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. 


290 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were 
at Damascus. 

“ And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, 
that He is the Son of God.” 

Paul in his defense before the Sanhedrim on a charge of 
heresy, also in his letters to the different churches, openly 
and boldly confirmed Luke’s evidence. St. Luke having 
been a companion of Paul, it is reasonable to conclude that 
he had received a statement of the facts directly from Paul. 

This view is farther corroborated by the necessity for 
such a man as was Paul at this special juncture of time to 
proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles, to preserve a memorial 
of his own evangelizing work and teachings, and to hasten 
the establishment and progress of Christian churches. 

These writers are also strongly corroborated by the prior 
miraculous history of this nation, by God’s dealings with it, 
and by the necessity and demand of Christianity in its 
beginning for a man with Paul’s special fitness for this 
work. They are also confirmed by Paul’s subsequent 
earnest life-work, and by the martyr faith and courage with 
which he met perils and dangers. 

In Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrim, he refers to the 
bright light and to its effect upon him and his co-conspira¬ 
tors, and that they led him into Damascus to the house of 
one Judas, giving the story in substance as Luke has. 
related it. 

These co-persecutors were from or near Jerusalem, and 
it is clear that it was the effects of this wonderful phenom¬ 
enon that caused them to cease their mission and return to 
their homes. 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


291 



It is a farther natural presumption that the deputies who 
had accompanied Paul to aid in arresting* this entire church 
were many in number, that they lived in or near Jerusalem, 
and that after this mysterious occurrence they returned to 


their homes and did not hesitate to speak of what had taken 
place. 

It is also clear that Paul would never have made this 
public statement concerning the knowledge of what 
occurred while journeying toward Damascus, had he not 


PAUL LEAVES THE DISCIPLES AT EPHESUS. 




















292 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


been absolutely certain that if these deputies were called as 
witnesses they would confirm his statements. The fact 
that they were not called, when all of the sacred interests 
of Judea and its old religious institutions and teachings 
were involved, creates a clear presumption that the leaders 
in authority, who had commissioned Paul and these 
deputies, knew that they would not impeach or contradict 
him. 

The fact is that no intelligent man before any court, 
when so much was involved, would have publicly made 
such a statement and referred so explicitly to those men 
and to what they knew, if he had not been certain of 
the truth of his statement. The evidential force of the 
presumption that necessarily arises from these facts strongly 
corroborates St. Paul and St. Luke as to what did occur. 

If Paul’s blindness had been caused by a stroke of 
lightning, or by the falling of a burning meteor, or by 
some other such natural cause, why was it that Ananias 
appeared on the scene the third day in response to a 
command received through a vision, to go into the street 
called Straight, to the house of one Judas, and there in¬ 
quire for one called Saul? And why was it that he placed 
his hands on Paul, saying: 

“ Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared 
unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me that 
thou mightest receive sight and be filled with the Holy 
Ghost. And immediately he arose, and seeing, was 
baptized.” 

If in these statements Paul was not telling the truth, it 
would have been quite easy for Ananias and the family of 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


293 


Judas to have been sent for, and Paul’s statements proven 
false. 

Paul’s acts, conduct, and his entire subsequent life, writ¬ 
ings and teachings, strongly confirm his testimony and 
establish the fact that he was a man of giant intellect and 
great wisdom : it is clear that he would never have made 
such a statement had he not been certain that the families 
of Judas and Ananias would corroborate and sustain him 
if called upon. 

The fact that they never were produced to prove Paul 
an impostor and thereby check the spread of Christianity 
raises a strong presumption that Paul was relating the 
truth. The Sanhedrim no doubt had heard enough from 
the co-persecutors who were with him to satisfy them that 
Paul could not be contradicted. 

When we keep before us the intense and ardent desire 
of this people to silence Paul and check the spread of 
Christianity, the probative force of this evidence is 
unanswerable. 

As farther corroborative evidence, Paul, in one of his 
published letters to the Corinthians, said that he had seen 
Christ since His resurrection; and He refers to others who 
had seen Him— in one instance five hundred at one time, 
the greater part of whom he declared were still living. 

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said : 

“ But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was 
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it 
of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of 
Jesus Christ.” 

These and other positive declarations of similar import 


294 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


contained in Paul’s public writings, and his original testi¬ 
mony before the Sanhedrim that included definite statements 
and references to men, acts, time and places that if false 
could easily have been disproved, settle forever in our mind 
all questions of the hallucination or visionary theory, 
or that what occurred near Damascus was a natural 
phenomenon. 

Ananias either appeared and said: “Brother Saul, the 
Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as 
thou earnest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy 
sight, &nd be filled with the Holy Ghost,” or Paul is the 
greatest of impostors. And if it be admitted that Paul is 
not the greatest of impostors, it clearly follows that his con¬ 
ception of what occurred on the road to Damascus when he 
was stricken blind was anything but an hallucination, such 
as skeptics claim it to have been. Clearly it was a super¬ 
natural revelation of the risen and ascended Lord to Paul, 
as a means of inspiring his faith and calling him as an 
apostle to the Gentiles. 

Paul was not only himself stricken blind by supernatural 
power, but he was able under his call and authority as an 
apostle to invoke the same power to produce the same 
effect on Elymas, the sorcerer, when the latter scoffed at 
the truth before Sergius Paulus. 

Paul’s teachings are in perfect harmony with and in sub¬ 
stance embrace the teachings of the four gospels. Paul 
declares it to have been three years after his conversion 
before he met or knew any of the apostles; that he then 
saw Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, and that what 
he knew of the Gospel of Christ was not received by him 


ELYMAS IS STRUCK BLIND 














MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


297 


from men, but by a direct revelation made to him by Jesus 
Christ. 

This statement is either true or knowingly false. In any 
case it would be absurd to contend that Paul had only such 
a conception of Christ’s teachings as were given in the four 
gospels. Christ either made a direct personal revelation to 
Paul, or Paul has intentionally imposed on the world, 
which is not believed or contended for by any infidel or 
skeptic of to-day. It would be unreasonable and prepos¬ 
terous, in view of Paul’s life-work, perils and martyrdom, 
to contend that he was not honest in his convictions, 
teachings and career. 

Paul’s friends pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusa¬ 
lem. They told him of a conspiracy to bind him, and that 
it would be certain death ; but he answered : 

“ I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at 
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 

From the first day of his conversion until his head was 
severed from his body, Paul’s veins were filled with martyr 
blood, sealing and solemnly vindicating the truth of his 
life-work as a zealous, honest herald of the Gospel of glad 
tidings to the Gentiles. 

We will briefly examine some other admitted facts that 
are not controverted by either skeptic or infidel, and which 
in our judgment strongly confirm this testimony. 

First.— AVhen Paul received his commission to go to 
Damascus he was a Pharisee of strong convictions and 
thorough education. His aversion to Christ and His relig¬ 
ion was intense and bitter. He had no sympathy for any 
one who followed Christ or who opposed himself. He 


298 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


had aided in stoning Stephen to death, he had persecuted 
men, women and children, and had a heart of stone. But 
in three days’ time we have the character of the man 
completely revolutionized through the influence of the 
mysterious incident that occurred near Damascus. 

He at once renounced his past religious education and 
convictions; and his stony heart, that had delighted in per¬ 
secutions, was changed into one of love aud sympathy, not 
for Judea only, but for all humanity. We find him in per¬ 
fect accord with the cause he had hated, and ready to shed 
his life blood in the interests of its success. 

Within three days a radical and thorough change in his 
thoughts and convictions was manifested. His spirit as a 
persecutor and his malice for Christ and the disciples 
had disappeared. Paul’s idea of vanquishing Christianity 
through persecutions, and accomplishing his purposes by 
force and bloodshed, had been eradicated. The whole 
inner man had been revolutionized, and he had become 
tender, loving and attractive. 

What was it that had brought about this miraculous 
revolution and change? Paul himself tells us that, on his 
way to Damascus, Christ, radiant in supernatural light, 
descended from heaven and made a personal revelation of 
Himself in such an objective manner that he no longer 
entertained any doubt of His being the Son of God, the 
Resurrection and the Life. 

Looking at this evidence in connection with these facts, 
we have a reasonable solution of this miraculous transac¬ 
tion ; but on no other principle of human philosophy can 
this sudden change in Paul’s whole character be accounted 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN 


( 299 ) 






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


301 


for. Nothing but a supernatural power could have wrought 
and brought about such a wonderful, noble, and heart- 
inspiring work. 

The hard-hearted back-tax collector, Zaccheus, had also 
undergone a wonderful change that caused him to disgorge 
his ill-gotten gains and give half of his large fortune to the 
poor. The revolution of Zaccheus’ character had been 
accomplished by the all-penetrating Eye and influence that 
Paul declared appeared to him, and which he would not 
oppose nor resist. 

Second.— If we compare Paul’s prior surroundings with 
the cause that he espoused, considering the matter from a 
human standpoint, we shall find important evidence cor¬ 
roborative of his testimony. To properly appreciate this 
proposition, it will be necessary to again briefly review a 
part of his past history. 

He, a rabbi of distinction, had been educated under 
Gamaliel, and had at an early age become a member of the 
Sanhedrim. By birth and education he was a Pharisee of 
the strictest sect. Paul was learned and influential in his 
Church, as his high position in early life clearly indicates. 
Christ’s followers were hated and despised by all those 
whose good opinion Paul had hitherto respected. 

Paul’s life as a member of the Sanhedrim and as a rabbi 
was brilliant with promise of future greater distinction ; and 
he must have known that to espouse the Christian faith 
would bring upon him the hatred and contempt of his 
Church, and the opposition of all religious and political 
influences. 

Paul must have known that it would separate him from 


302 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


home, father, mother, relatives and friends, and would also 
expose him to the perils of land, sea, and to death. The 
consideration and motive that induced him to take this step 
could not have been the hope of increasing his fortune; on 
the contrary, he knew that it would certainly entail the loss 
of all that he possessed, and the abandonment of all hope 
of acquiring more. His former friends had wealth, dignity, 
and the dispensing power of Judea, while the cause that he 
espoused was socially ostracised, and its followers unlearned, 
indigent and with no prospect or hope of improving their 
fortunes. 

From a human standpoint, the cause of the Christian 
religion at this time seemed hopeless. Its Leader was dead ; 
and without faith in the risen Lord, there was nothing to 
encourage any one to espouse it. Therefore, Paul could 
not have been animated by the love of power, unless it was 
power over a flock of sheep, as it were, being driven to the 
slaughter, whose Shepherd and Leader had been put to 
death as a malefactor. 

It is, therefore, certain that, from a worldly standpoint, 
Paul had nothing to gain, but everything to lose by this 
movement. He must surrender popularity, home, friends, 
an increasing reputation and fortune, to face persecution, 
peril, poverty, and even certain death. 

Looking at the matter from a worldly standpoint, why, 
we ask, did Paul give up so much for such a hopeless 
cause? 

The only rational answer is the one he has given. It is 
certain that his own account of what occurred that brought 
about this miraculous change has none of the indications of 


PAUL WRITING TO TIIE EPHESIANS 



( 303 ) 


17 


































































































































































































































































































































































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. 



















- £ ' •' • 1 


























MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


305 


a natural phenomenon or a visionary or subjective concep¬ 
tion of Christ. Paul refers to dates and places, to Judas’ 
home and to his family, to Ananias, and to the witnesses 
who were with him at the time he was overshadowed with 
the light, and who led him into Damascus, blind from its 
effects. 

In his different letters he refers to a revelation that was 
in perfect harmony with Christ’s three years’ teachings, 
which he declares was personally revealed to him by Christ. 
This transaction, as narrated by Paul, removes it from all 
speculative or visionary fields when considered in connec¬ 
tion with all the facts and surroundings. 

As already noted, Paul as a witness w r as in the highest 
degree competent. His testimony relative to his conver¬ 
sion was full, explicit and positive. It is sustained by his 
open public letters, and by the testimony of Luke, who 
was at one time Paul’s companion, and who had every 
opportunity for ascertaining the facts. 

Paul’s testimony is farther corroborated and sustained 
by his reference to Judas’ home and family, to Ananias, 
and to a large crowd of co-conspirators, and the facts 
they knew and to which they could testify. What Paul 
renounced to espouse the Christian cause, his life of sac¬ 
rifice and peril, and his martyr death, are in the highest 
degree confirmatory of the truth of what he relates 
concerning his conversion. 

In the early miraculous history of the Hebrew nation, 
culminating in Christ’s divine life, death and resurrection, 
in perfect fulfillment of prophecy, and the absolute neces¬ 
sity for a man of Paul’s nature, education and fitness to 


306 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


become an apostle to the Gentiles, and in all that Paul has 
told us with reference to the matter, we have presented a 
chain of positive and circumstantial testimony that is over¬ 
whelming, and that confirms the story of the Christian 
theory of Paul’s conversion. 

Even the learned Baur, who was the founder of the 
modern school of skepticism, from which Strauss, Renan 
and others sprang, has struggled with great earnestness 
to take from Paul’s evidence and that which corroborates 
and gives force and value to it, all that is supernatural. 
But it is to Baur’s credit that in his work on the Christian 
Church he has said : 

“ Neither physiological or dialectical analysis can explore 
the mystery in which it is claimed God revealed His Son 
to Paul.” 

He has even said that the conversion and immediate 
change or reformation of Paul from a vehement persecutor 
and adversary into a most resolute herald of Christianity is 
nothing short of a great and mysterious wonder. 

Both Baur and the subsequent adherers to his materialistic 
school and theories of skepticism have been greatly exer¬ 
cised over the influence that led to Paul’s sudden change 
and reformation, and have speculated much concerning it, 
but have always left the question where it naturally belongs, 
saying that it is a mystery and an enigma that they cannot 
satisfactorily explain. 

Baur conceded that Paul’s conversion always worried 
him, and this great modern skeptic was heard to say, 
among his last utterances : 

“ Lord, grant me a peaceful end.” 


PAUL AT ATHENS 


/ 
























































































































































































































































































0 



























































































































. 















MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


309 


This final weakening 1 of Baur, the founder of the modern 
school of skepticism, has always reflected upon and weak¬ 
ened the assertions of Strauss, Renan and others in support 
of their theories. 

Lord Lyttelton and his friend, Gilbert West, were both 
men of known ability, who had become skeptical on a 
superficial study and investigation of the Bible. They 
both entertained the idea that the Bible was an imposture, 
and entered into an agreement to expose what they assumed 
to be its fallacies. It was decided that West should write 
an attack on the resurrection, and Lord Lyttelton one on 
the conversion of St. Paul. 

Both entered upon their chosen tasks with the avowed 
determination to oppose Christianity. But at the conclu¬ 
sion of their labors, instead of exulting over an exposure, 
as they had planned to do, both sadly lamented the follies 
of their past lives, and regretted that they had not sooner 
thoroughly investigated the Scriptures. Revolutionized in 
their convictions, they had become firm believers in our 
Holy Bible as being the Word of God. 

Lord Lyttelton said he found that every step of Paul’s 
life after conversion showed honesty and sincerity of pur¬ 
pose, and that his account of the said conversion removed it 
from all visionary or speculative fields. He said that Paul 
was either a wicked impostor, or that his testimony was 
true; and that he referred to too many witnesses, dates, 
places, and facts not to have been exposed if what he had 
stated was a dream or a lie, and that the facts and evidence 
corroborating Paul’s testimony justified but one rational 
conclusion. 


310 


MANIFESTATION TO PAUL. 


This profound lawyer and eminent jurist, thorough inves¬ 
tigator and strong reasoner, whose fame will live as long 
as law is enforced, after full and thorough investigation, 
declared that he had no doubt whatever of the truth of 
Paul’s testimony relating to the facts that led to his con¬ 
version and sudden change from an avowed Pharisee and 
persecutor to the greatest missionary the world has ever 
produced. 

In'our judgment, Lord Lyttelton’s argument is the 
strongest ever written on the conversion of Paul, and is 
absolutely conclusive. Every one ought to read it. 

If skeptics would seek such literature as the arguments 
of Lyttelton and "West, they would be forever rid of the 
hindering doubts that make their lives restless, and civil¬ 
ization would be freed from their skeptical influence, which 
is a check to the growth of Christianity, and to the highest 
and best interests of humanity. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 


god’s appearance to the patriarchs, the mosaic 

AUTHORSHIP AND THE DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF THE 
PENTATEUCH. 


E KNOW comparatively little of the 
manner of God’s appearance to the 
patriarchs, but we know much of the 
unbounded faith that such appearance 
and God’s commissions inspired. 
When Abraham was directed to 
leave home, kindred and country, he promptly obeyed. 
The supreme faith that characterized his conduct from 
this time forth has for centuries distinguished him as “ the 
father of the faithful.” On one occasion, it is alleged 
that when God appeared, Abraham fell upon his face and 
worshiped him, and that on God’s departure he built an 
altar unto Him. 

On another occasion it is related that after God had 
ceased to talk with Abraham, “ God went up from him,” 
and a similar instance is mentioned after an appearance 
of the Lord to Jacob. The narrative states that “ God 
said unto him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multi¬ 
ply ; and the land which I have given Abraham and Isaac, 
to thee will I give the land. And God went up from 
Jacob in the place where God talked with him.” 



( 311 ) 




312 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT, 


It is related that in God’s appearance to Hagar, in her 
bitter distress she recognized the fact that she had seen 
God and talked with Him. She said : “ Have I also here 
looked after Him that seeth me? ” 

In the alleged supernatural appearance to Gideon, to 
Daniel, to the father of John the Baptist, to the 



HAGAR’S DISTRESS RELIEVED. 


mother of Jesus, to the shepherds at Christ’s birth, and 
to Paul, the manifestation inspired and qualified each of 
these persons with an unfaltering and unconquerable faith 
for his or her divinely appointed mission. 

But in speaking of God’s appearance, we do not mean 
that God the Father in His essential nature appeared and 















DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


313 


talked with man face to face, as God is an invisible Spirit. 
It is reasonably clear that in all of these manifestations it 
was God the Son, the one Mediator between God and 
man. 

In appearing as God incarnate, God the Son said: 

“ I am before Abraham was. * * * Your father 

Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was 
glad.” 

Again, when weeping over Jerusalem, he said: 

“ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! thou thatkillest the prophets, 
and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would 
I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gath- 
ereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” 

This language was the summary of the long past history 
of our Lord’s dealings with His chosen people. The con¬ 
text carries His words “ how often ” back to the day of 
righteous Abel, the typical proto-martyr witness to the 
atoning death. 

These different expressions of Christ would imply that 
He had been actively at work with His chosen people long 
prior to the commencement of His appearance in the world 
as God in Christ, and this view is strongly sustained by 
St. Paul. 

St. John, in speaking of the Lord God the Son, said: 

u In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness com¬ 
prehended it not. * * * That was the true Light, 

which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He 
was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and 
the world knew Him not.” 


314 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


This clearly implies that God had made the world and 
was operating in the world as the true light thereof prior 
to His appearance as the Messiah. 

Trajan, the emperor of Rome, said to the Rabbi Joshua: 

“ You teach that your God is everywhere; I should like 
to see Him.” 

“But He cannot be seen,” replied Joshua; “no mortal 
eye can behold His glory.” 

The Emperor persisted, until Joshua finally said: 

“ Well, let us try first to look at one of his ambassadors.” 

Trajan consenting, the rabbi led him into the open air 
at noonday, and bade him look at the sun. 

“ I cannot,” said Trajan, “the light dazzles me.” 

“ Thou art unable,” returned Joshua, “ to endure the 
light of one of his creatures. How, then, canst thou 
expect to behold the resplendent glory of the Creator? 
The sight would annihilate thee.” 

The teachings of Holy Writ agree with the rabbi’s 
exposition. 

When Moses prayed to the Lord, saying, “ I beseech 
Thee, show me Thy glory,” he received the following 
reply: 

“No man can see My face and live.” 

It is stated in the second chapter of Judges that the 
people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the 
days of the elders who had seen the great works that the 
Lord had done for Israel. 

After the death of Moses and Joshua, the Lord with¬ 
drew His visible appearance from the children of Israel 
except at critical periods, when it became necessary to 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


315 


inspire their faltering faith in the true God, and to prevent 
idol worship. 

God’s appearances to and His supervision of this people 
during the remainder of the Old-Testament dispensation 
was generally through the instrumentality of inspired 
prophets and leaders, and by the agency of visions and 
dreams. 

God’s normal attitude to men is that of invisibility; but 
His personal appearances to and dealings with this people, 
as we have already related, were for the purpose of dis¬ 
closing to man himself the unknown God, who rules the 
heavens and the earth. 

Skeptics have ridiculed the idea that God appeared to 
and had colloquial intercourse with this one nation of 
people and ignored all others. Bishop Watson, in reply 
to Paine’s u Age of Reason,” in discussing this question, 
said: 

“ The Supreme Being selected one family from an idol¬ 
atrous world; nursed it up, by various acts of His prov¬ 
idence, into a great nation; communicated to that nation 
a knowledge of His holiness, justice, mercy, power and 
wisdom; disseminated them at various times through every 
part of the earth, that they might be ‘ a leaven to leaven 
the whole lump; ’ that they might assure all nations of the 
existence of one Supreme God, the Creator and Preserver 
of the world. * * * 

“ You have ridiculed things held most sacred, and calum¬ 
niated characters esteemed most venerable; you have ex¬ 
cited the scoffs of the profane, increased the skepticism of 
the doubtful, shaken the faith of the unlearned, suggested 


316 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT 


cavils to the ‘ disputers of this world,’ and perplexed the 
minds of honest men who wish to worship the God of their 
fathers in sincerity and truth. 



JACOB SERVING FOR RACHEL, 


“ This and more you have done in going through the 
Old Testament. You have not so much as glanced at 










































DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


317 


the great design of the whole, at the harmony and mutual 
dependence of the several parts. You have said nothing 
of the wisdom of God in selecting a particular people from 
the rest of mankind, not for their own sakes, but that they 
might witness to the whole world, in successive ages, His 
existence and attributes; that they might be an instrument 
of subverting idolatry, and of declaring the name of the 
God of Israel throughout the whole earth. 

“ It is through this nation that the Egyptians saw the 
wonders of God; that the Canaanites (whose wickedness 
had been a reproach to human nature) felt His judgments; 
that the Babylonians issued their decrees ‘ that none should 
speak amiss of the God of Israel, that all should hear and 
tremble before Him; ’ and it is through them that you and 
I, and all the world, are not this day worshipers of idols. 

“ You have said nothing of the goodness of God in prom¬ 
ising that through the seed of Abraham all the nations of 
the earth were to be blessed; that the desire of all 
nations, the blessing of Abraham to the Gentiles, should 
come.” 

Skeptics, appreciating the evidential force and influence 
of the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the 
Pentateuch, in maintaining the Christian revelation, have 
made many attacks upon them. They have denied the 
Mosaic authorship and its divine authenticity, and have 
assigned the date when they were written to a period long 
subsequent to Moses’ death. 

It is generally conceded that there have been some 
additions to the Pentateuch since Moses’ death. During 
the great spiritual revolution in the reign of King Josiah, 


318 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


about 626 b. c., through the influence of Jeremiah and 
others the Temple was being repaired under a commission 
from Hilkiah, the high priest; Shaphan, the king’s 
secretary and minister of finance; Joah, the keeper of 
the king’s archives; and Manasseh, governor of Jeru¬ 
salem. 

While these commissioners were engaged in their duties 
in removing the money gathered to repair the Temple, 
Hilkiah found a manuscript-roll that proved to be a copy 
of the book of the law of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses. 
The exact place in which it was found is not stated, but 
it is highly probable that it was discovered in the ark of 
the covenant, which Manasseh had thrown aside in some 
of the cells or chambers around the Temple, where it had 
remained unnoticed until the eager, searching eyes of 
Hilkiah discovered it. 

What portion of the Pentateuch as we now have it was 
found has been and is the subject of much contention. 
Many scholars believe it to be the book known as Deute¬ 
ronomy. Others claim that it not only included this book, 
but embraced a greater or less portion of other divisions 
of the Pentateuch; while still others claim and contend 
that it was a collection of Moses’ writings, from which has 
been compiled the Pentateuch in its present form. It is, 
however, clear that a book known as the writings of Moses 
was in existence long prior to the reign of King Josiah; 
and it is very probable that Jeremiah and Hilkiah, aided 
by others, compiled the Pentateuch in its present form 
from Moses’ writings, adding some other and later his¬ 
torical facts. But be this as it may, it is evidentially 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


319 


manifest that the first five books of the Bible are composed 
largely of Moses’ writings, and that they are of divine 
authorship. 

We are assured that after Moses’ divine call, and while 
educating the Hebrew race, he was engaged in writing the 
facts connected with their journeyings in the wilderness 
and of God’s dealings with them, and that his writings 
were sacredly preserved. 

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus, it is stated that 
Moses while in the wilderness of Sinai wrote all the words 
of the Lord, and read from the book of the covenant to the 
people, and that they responded. 

“ All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” 

It is related in the thirty-third chapter of Numbers that 
Moses wrote an account of the departure of the children of 
Israel from Egypt, and of their journeyings in the wilder¬ 
ness, giving many details, “'by the commandment of the 
Lord.” 

In the thirty-first chapter of Deuteronomy it is recorded: 

“ And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of 
writing the words of this law in a book, until they were 
finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare 
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, take this book 
of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the cove¬ 
nant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a 
witness against them.” 

In Joshua we have the positive statement that Moses 
had written God’s laws and words in a book. In this 
book was a command even to Joshua to build an altar at 
Mount Ebal as a memorial to the Lord. 


18 


320 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT, 


The Book of Joshua contains internal evidence which 
makes it clear that it was written during the life of the 
generation of people who were led by Joshua out of the 
wilderness into the land of Canaan, and probably not more 
than thirty or forty years after the death of Moses, for its 
author said: 



SETTING UP MEMORIAL STONES. 


“And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her 
father’s household, and all that she had ; and she dwelleth 
in Israel even unto this day.” 

In the fourth chapter the same author says: 

“ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of 
Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which 















DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


321 


bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there 
unto this day.” 

These quotations show that the Book of Joshua was 
written either by Joshua or by some one who lived during 
his generation. The author recognizes and refers to “ the 
book of the law” written by Moses, that confirms all 
allusions in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy to his 
writings. He also refers to many other facts mentioned 
in these books. 

In Exodus, Moses is commanded by the Lord to write in 
the book of the covenant an account of Joshua’s victory 
over the Amalekites; and in Numbers, he is commanded 
to write a history of the journeyings of the children of 
Israel out of Egypt and while in the wilderness, giving 
the details of stations and places. 

In Deuteronomy, an allusion is made to Moses having 
completed the writing of the book of the law; and in the 
twenty-fourth chapter of Joshua, in his summary of God’s 
covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of His deal¬ 
ings with, promises to and his protection of the children of 
Israel, the author also alludes to facts we find recorded in 
Genesis and Exodus. 

In the second chapter of the First Book of Kings, 
David, in his charge to his son, Solomon, who succeeded 
him, said: 

“ I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong, there¬ 
fore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the 
Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, 
and His commandments, and His judgments, and His tes¬ 
timonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou 
mayest prosper in all that thou doest.” 


322 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


In Jeremiah, reference is made to the books of Genesis, 
Exodus, Leviticus, lumbers, Deuteronomy, Chronicles, 
Judges and Kings as containing authentic records of the 
Hebrew nation from the time of Abraham until then. 
Biblical references to the same effect can be multiplied. 

It was the opinion of the Jews during the centuries of 
the accumulation of the Old Testament that Moses wrote 
the Pentateuch. Their testimony bearing on this question 
is of great value. 

The evidence contained in the first five books of the Old 
Testament clearly proves either that Moses was their 
author, or that they in their present form had been com¬ 
piled largely from his writings. Few can read the ad¬ 
dresses and advice to the children of Israel that are 
attributed to Moses after leaving Mount Sinai and just 
previous to his death, reviewing his past life-work and 
God’s dealings with His people, and for one moment 
seriously doubt that they are the genuine productions of 
this great and grand leader. They contain all the fresh¬ 
ness, originality and inspiration that such surroundings 
would naturally inspire. 

Surely no man or combination of men could have man¬ 
ufactured this miraculous history, could have forged and 
written these wonderful documents, and been successful in 
palming them off on any succeeding generation as genuine 
and as a true history. 

Suppose that these wonderful statements contained in 
the Pentateuch had been written several centuries after 
Moses’ death, and that this alleged history had been man¬ 
ufactured and was false: could it possibly have been 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


323 


palmed off as genuine? The books of. the Pentateuch 
relate minutely to God’s covenants and dealings with 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the miraculous deliverance of 
this chosen race from Egyptian bondage; their education, 
training and forty years’ history in the wilderness, and 
give in detail a code of laws, ordinances and instituted modes 
of worship, their origin and the facts connected therewith, 
and indeed the complete history of this nation for cen¬ 
turies. If it were false or forged, the imposition could and 
would have been detected and exposed. 

These books mention the strong evidential fact that as 
Moses wrote this history the records were placed in the ark 
of the covenant for safe-keeping. They also refer, and in 
minute detail, to so many miraculous events and important 
historical facts that, if spurious, they would have been 
detected upon the most superficial investigation. 

We ask, could such an imposture have been made upon 
any nation of people, inspiring their enthusiastic faith in 
its truth and genuineness? Would not any people have 
said, We have examined the vaults of the ark of the cove¬ 
nant, have conversed with those who have charge of it, 
and have investigated the wonderful history these books 
claim to relate, only to find that it is all false, and there¬ 
fore we must pronounce the books themselves forgeries? 

Suppose that to-day a volume were to be published, with 
Washington as its alleged author, and that it gave in 
detail the facts connected with the Revolutionary War: 
could such an imposture be credited by this or any other 
generation? Would not every intelligent man and woman 
say, It cannot be true that George Washington wrote 


321 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


such a book, because it was never before heard of, and 
because it could not possibly have been written and 
preserved in the manner designated without something 
concerning it having been known and the work eagerly 
sought after? Therefore, it must be a forgery and an 
attempted imposition. 

In the entire records of the world, who ever heard of a 
book containing the history for centuries of a nation, with 
a system and code of laws, instituted modes of worship and 
ordinances, giving in detail the origin of the latter and the 
facts connected therewith, having been forged and palmed 
off on any nation of people, and of its inspiring their 
unlimited and boundless faith as has the Pentateuch or the 
first five books of the Old Testament? 

As we have before stated, the book of Joshua contains 
strong internal evidence that it was written during the 
generation that survived Moses, and this generation was 
well acquainted with all the facts connected with the exodus 
and with the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. 

It relates that Pahab, who had protected Joshua’s spies, 
for which she and her family were spared in the siege and 
destruction of Jericho, was still living among them; that 
the stones placed in the Jordan where the priests stood with 
the ark of the covenant yet remained there. It refers in 
detail to much that Moses wrote, his speeches, laws, ordi¬ 
nances, and modes of worship, and to the history of this 
race for centuries — all in confirmation of the contents of 
the Pentateuch. 

Not only is this true, but the Pentateuch contains inter¬ 
nal evidence, when applied to subsequent history, that 



RAHAB SAVES THE SPIES. 


( 825 ) 

























































































































































































































































































































































































































* 
















DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


327 


conclusively proves that it is not a false and spurious 
document. It enumerates covenants and promises alleged 
to have been made between God and Abraham concerning 
the posterity of Ishmael and Isaac, that were miraculously 
fulfilled. It relates the fact of Moses alleging that he 
was a servant of God, divinely called to aid in the work of 
a progressive revelation. We have shown (by Moses’ pro¬ 
phetical picture of the future of this race to be realized 
centuries afterward, and which was fulfilled in perfect and 
minute detail) conclusive evidence sustaining the assertions 
in regard to having been divinely called or appointed. No 
human foresight or intelligence could, without supernatural 
aid, have so accurately forecast the history of this nation 
for centuries as did Moses. 

These facts carry with them strong probative evidence 
that supports the Mosaic authorship and the divine 
authenticity of the Pentateuch. 

The Pentateuch relates the beginning of a miraculous 
history and the work of a progressive revelation which, 
continuing for centuries, culminated in the divinely at¬ 
tractive life, character and teachings of Jesus Christ. 
These prophetic portrayals cannot be explained by any 
ordinary known law or influence: they present a miracle 
for which skeptical scientists can never account on any 
other theory so reasonable as that of a supernatural 
revelation. By accepting this theory, it becomes clear; 
besides, it would be impossible for the tangible evidence 
we have to exist were it false. 

Is it possible or credible that such a strong chain of 
positive and circumstantial evidence could exist, with such 


328 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


glorious results, and yet have been forged from false and 
spurious documents and records? To ask intelligent 
investigators to accept such a proposition or account of 
the origin of the Pentateuch is to invite their faith and 
belief in a miracle that would be far greater and more 
difficult to comprehend than it is to accept the theory of a 
divine origin and authenticity. 

The faith and miraculous history of this nation from 
Moses’ death until the angelic announcement rang out from 
the heavens that a Child had been born, a Saviour given, 
who would bring peace and good-will to all the sons of men, 
reflect upon this ancient manuscript record a flood of 
evidential light in corroboration of its truth and divine 
authenticity. 

The coming of Christ as a Saviour, amid the chorus of 
seraphic voices and heavenly music that touched to tears 
the Bethlehem shepherds, was in fulfillment of the ancient 
promise given in the Pentateuch that the seed of the 
woman should bruise the serpent’s head; that in the seed 
of Abraham the nations and the families of the earth 
should be blessed ; and in fulfillment of Jacob’s announce¬ 
ment that the scepter would not depart from Judah, nor 
the law-givers from under her feet, until the coming of 
Shiloh, the Prince of Peace; and also in fulfillment of 
the proclamation of Balaam that a star would rise out of 
Judah and a scepter out of Israel. 

Not only have these prophecies been fulfilled, but Jesus 
Christ, whose words have always been found to be true, 
bears strong evidence to the Mosaic authorship and the 
divine authenticity of the Pentateuch. In vindicating His 
claims as the Messiah, He said: 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT, 


329 


“ Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye 
have eternal life • and they are they which testify of 
Me. * * * For had ye believed Moses, ye would 

have believed Me ; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe 
not his writings, how shall ye believe My words? 



THE MEETING OF ISAAC AND REBEKAH. 


The writings here referred to clearly embrace the Penta¬ 
teuch, for it is conceded that during Christ’s public career 
the Pentateuch was recognized as the writings of Moses. 

St. Luke also tells us that after the resurrection Christ 
appeared to two of His disciples on the road to Em- 
maus, and “ beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He 


















330 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things 
concerning Himself.” 

A little farther on, referring to the recognized threefold 
division of the Old-Testament Scriptures, Christ makes use 
of the words, “ that all things must be fulfilled which were 
written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in 
the Psalms concerning Me.” 

The circumstantial and positive evidence that supports 
the divine authenticity of the Pentateuch and the Mosaic 
authorship raises the conclusive presumption either that 
Moses wrote it or that it has been compiled substantially 
from his writings, and that it is a faithful record of God’s 
dealings with his chosen race, who in the beginning of His 
work of a supernatural progressive revelation were used as 
“ a beacon set upon a hill,” to light other nations to the 
only true God. 

Skeptics have also hurled harsh criticisms against the 
biblical account of Abraham’s temptation to offer his son 
Isaac. They have asked what motive a righteous God 
could have had in so barbarously tempting His righteous 
servant. What motive? We answer, a sublime and in¬ 
spiring one. God was beginning the establishment of a reli¬ 
gion that was to elevate and bless mankind. The foundation 
of this religion is perfect faith and obedience. Knowing 
that sufficient evidence to inspire and call forth such faith 
had been presented to Abraham, God, in this simple way, 
tested Abraham that an example for all time to come might 
be given of the faith and obedience that were essentials of 
all true children of God. 

Again, by this simple transaction God effectually set the 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


331 


seal of His disapproval upon the then heathen practice of 
offering the first born as a sacrifice to appease the gods, 
and substituted brute in place of human offerings. 

From that time to this the barbarity of sacrificing chil¬ 
dren as a religious observance has never been practiced 
among God-fearing nations. Faith and obedience were 
rigidly taught by Christ after His incarnation as essential 
in every one of His recognized disciples. 

When a young man appeared before Christ, desirous of 
knowing what He must do in order to become one of His 
followers, Christ repeated to him a few of the command¬ 
ments, which He instructed him to keep. The young man 
replied: 

“ All these have I kept from my youth up.” 

Christ, reading the heart and knowing the love for 
earthly possessions to be greater than was the desire to 
become one of His disciples, applied the crucial test by 
telling the young inquirer to sell all that he had, distribute 
it to the poor and follow Him. But this man’s faith was 
not so perfect as had been the faith of Abraham. He did 
not obey and hence was rejected. 

In establishing a test of discipleship, Christ said: 

“ Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he 
hath, he cannot be My disciple.” 

Asrain He stretched forth His hand and said: 

“ Whosoever shall do the will of My Father, which is in 
heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.” 

At the present day Christ does not require His followers 
to convert their wealth into cash and distribute it to the 
poor, though He does require them not to live alone to 


332 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT 


themselves, but to follow His example of self-sacrifice and 
benevolence. The example of the rich young 1 man was 



ABRAHAM AND ISAAC GOING UP TO THE SACRIFICE. 


employed like Abraham’s temptation, to teach that it is 
our duty, at any sacrifice, to obey God’s commands. 






























DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


333 


The spirit of Abraham’s temptation was exemplified by 
Christ when, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the sufferings 
of the cross and cruel death were before Him, He said: 

“ If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me ; neverthe¬ 
less, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” 

Throughout Christ’s teachings He constantly and 
solemnly appeals to every one to do the will of His 
heavenly Father. Christ is not to-day calling on us to 
sacrifice son, or to forsake father and mother or sister 
except when they interfere with our obedience to His com¬ 
mands. 

In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, Christ explains 
how we may secure His full approval and become members 
of His spiritual kingdom. He says : 

“ Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, 
Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom pre¬ 
pared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was 
an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye 
gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; 
naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; 
I was in prison, and ye came unto Me 

“Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying: Lord, 
when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, 
and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and 
took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw 
we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? 

“ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily 
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. 

“ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, 


334 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


Depart from me, ye cursed. * * * For I was an hun¬ 

gered, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave 
Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; 
naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and ye 
visited Me not. 

“ Then shall they also answer Him, saying: Lord, when 
saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or 
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto 
Thee? 

“ Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto 
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, 
ye did it not to Me.” 

The great lesson Christ taught was that we should love 
one another as He had loved us; and He gave His earthly 
life as an example for us in our intercourse with others. 

Christ said: 

“ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love 
one another; as I have loved you; that ye also love one 
another.” 

Many think that an outward appearance of morality and 
a public maintenance of the means of grace, such as attend¬ 
ance upon and support of Church and Sabbath-school, 
make them full-fledged Christians, but this is a lamentable 
error. 

The Sabbath-school and Church are but means of reli¬ 
gious instruction and worship. In them we may learn of 
God and howto best serve Him. Being a Christian, how¬ 
ever, includes not only such knowledge and a willing 
obedience to the first and great commandment, but also a 
practical recognition of the brotherhood of man by liberally 


DIVINE AUTHENTICITY OF OLD TESTAMENT. 


335 


assisting in clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, visit¬ 
ing the sick and those in prison, and giving water to those 
who thirst. If our movements through the world are 
inspired with the right spirit, our ministrations will truly 
exemplify the life of Christ and the animating principle of 
“ the father of the faithful ” who sublimely obeyed the will 
of God. 
















CHAPTEE IX. 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION OF MESSIANIC 
PROPHECY. 


A SUMMARY. 

T WAS revealed through inspired 
prophets at the beginning that 
man’s arch enemy, the serpent — 
sin — would be overcome by the seed 
of woman. In making this revela¬ 
tion more specific, the divine pledge 
was given to Abraham that this prophecy would be realized 
through his seed, and subsequently he was informed that 
it would be through the seed of his son Isaac, and not 
through that of Ishmael. 

After Abraham’s death, the covenant was renewed with 
Isaac, and subsequent to the birth of his two sons, 
Esau and Jacob, it was again renewed with the promise 
that the accomplishment would be through the seed of 
Jacob, excluding that of Esau. 

Jacob had twelve sons, and after Isaac’s death the cov¬ 
enant was renewed with him, though no special one of his 
sons was designated. The divine decree was thus unfolded, 
that through the seed of Jacob, generally, the nations and 
families of the earth would be blessed. 

( 336 ) 




CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION, 


337 


As a means of preserving the identity of Jacob’s seed as 
a select and chosen people, through whom this covenant 
was to be performed, Jacob and his entire family were sep¬ 
arated from their relatives and the surrounding inhabitants, 



led into Egypt, and placed in possession of the fertile fields 
of Goshen. Here they remained for four generations as 
“ strangers in a land not their own.” During this sojourn 
they preserved their identity, and developed into a great 
race, numbering perhaps two million people. 



















338 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


At the close of this prophetic period, Egypt trembled in 
amazement as this chosen people were miraculously led out 
of Egypt and into the wilderness, where Moses and others, 
under divine direction, instructed and watched over them 
preparatory to their entry into the promised land as wor¬ 
shipers of the one true God, and as a nation to become as 
“ a beacon set upon a hill” to light other nations to the 
sanctuary of the God of their fathers. 

The triumphant manner in which this people were 
delivered from their Egyptian bondage, and their victory 
over the Ammonites, attracted the attention of surrounding 
nations, especially the inhabitants of the Promised Land, 
as evidence of which Rahab said to Joshua’s spies: 

“ I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that 
your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants 
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how 
the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when 
ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings 
of fhe Ammonites, that were on the other side of Jordan, 
Sihon and Ogg, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon 
as we had heard these things our hearts did melt, neither 
did there remain any more courage in any man, because of 
you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above 
and in earth beneath.” 

After this people, under the leadership of Joshua, had 
been emancipated from Egyptian bondage and had 
triumphantly taken possession of the land of Canaan, the 
numerous covenants and prophecies were often rehearsed 
and were thus kept fresh in the memory of this people. 
These included both the covenants made with Abraham, 



(339) 


CHRIST IN THE STORM 
















































































































































CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


341 


Isaac arid Jacob, and the prophecy of Jacob concerning the 
coining Shiloh — the Prince of Peace — the prophetic 
proclamation of Balaam that there shall come a star out 
of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and the 
prophecy of Moses referring to a coming higher dispensa¬ 
tion, in which a leader would rise from their midst greater 
than himself. 

This nation, therefore, naturally became a God-worship¬ 
ing people who looked forward to the coming of a golden 
era, which in its ultimate and beneficent realization would 
banish idolatry and bless the whole earth. 

They also became conspicuously a nation of priests, 
prophets and teachers. Their literature, covering a period 
of national and miraculous history of more than two 
thousand years, was written by over forty men of different 
generations, and abounds in prophetic utterances concern¬ 
ing the coming of a divine Messiah and the establishment 
of a universal kingdom of God, to be ruled in peace and 
righteousness. 

A reference to Christ as being the Son of God is made 
in the following quotation from the second Psalm: 

“I will declare the decree; Thou art my Son; this day 
have I begotten Thee. * * * Blessed are all they 

that put their trust in Him.” 

In the fifth chapter of Micah, the prophet, in referring 
to the birthplace of the coming Messiah, also alludes to 
Him as one “ whose goings forth have been from of old, 
from everlasting,” and who shall “be great unto the ends 
of the earth.” 

In the seventh chapter of Isaiah, the immaculate con- 


342 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


ception and birth of Christ as the son of God are foretold 
in the following language: 

“ Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and 
shall call his name Immanuel,” meaning, God is with us. 

In the ninth chapter, in describing in more minute 
detail the immaculate conception and character of the 
Son of God, the prophet says: 

“ For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given : and 
the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, 
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the in¬ 
crease of His government and peace there shall be no 
end.” 

These prophecies and the types and shadows of a coming 
Messiah, describe a divine person, begotten by God, con¬ 
ceived by a virgin, and who would appear in the form and 
likeness of man to suffer for the sins of others, yet to be 
“The Prince of Peace,” “Wonderful,” “Counsellor,” 
“ The Mighty God,” “The everlasting Father,” “whose 
goings forth had been of old, from everlasting,” and whose 
kingdom would embrace all nations and endure forever. 

Prophecy declared that Christ would be preceded by a 
forerunner as a voice in the wilderness. The prophet 
Malachi, to whom “ the burden of the Lord to Israel” 
came, said: 

“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall pre¬ 
pare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, 
shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of 
the covenant whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, 
saith the Lord of Hosts.” 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


343 


Isaiah confirmed this same statement. He said: 

“ Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your 
God. * * * The voice of him that crieth in the 
wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight 
in the desert a highway for our God. * * * And the 

glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall 
see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
it.” 

There are no characters in history except that of John 
the Baptist, as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” 
announcing the Kingdom of God at hand, and Christ, 
appearing as the “ only begotten Son of God,” to whom 
these prophecies could have the slightest reference. 

About two hundred years after the close of the Old 
Testament Scriptures, it is recorded by St. Luke that 
while Zacharias, a priest, was officiating in the Temple, 
the angel Gabriel appeared unto him and said: 

“ Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and thy 
wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call 
his name John. * * * For he shall be great in the 
sight of the Lord.” * * * “And he shall go before 
Him * * * to make ready a people prepared for the 

Lord.” 

Following this announcement, Elizabeth’s conception 
and John’s birth is related. 

About thirty years afterward, John appeared preaching 
baptism and repentance, and announced “ the Kingdom of 
Heaven is at hand.” The conception and birth of Christ 
as recorded is still more miraculous and thrilling. It is re¬ 
lated that in six months after the angel Gabriel appeared 


344 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


to Zacharias in the Temple he was sent to a virgin named 
Mary, who was espoused to Joseph, to whom he said: 

“ Blessed art thou among women. * * * Fear not, 

Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.” 

It was then made known to her that she would conceive 
by the Holy Ghost. Mary inquired : 

“ How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ” 

“And the angel answered and said unto her: The 
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the 
Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy 
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of 
God. And Mary said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; 
be it unto me according to thy word.” 

In due time Mary “ brought forth her first born and 
wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a 
manger,” when an angel with outstretched pinions and a 
countenance radiant with celestial light appeared to the 
shepherds watching their flocks by night, and said: 

“Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of 
great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is 
born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is 
Christ the Lord.” 

And suddenly there appeared a multitude of celestial 
beings in a triumphant outburst of heavenly music, singing 
“ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good¬ 
will toward men.” 

Mr. Ingersoll, in enunciating his skeptical suggestions, 
has said: “ If Christ be the Son of God and not the son 
of Joseph, why did St. Matthew trace out his genealogy 
from Abraham, and why did St. Luke trace it back to 
Adam?” 


CHRIST TIIE PERFECT REALIZATION 


345 


Why this was done we may not be able to give a satis¬ 
factory reason for, but one fact is certain, that in beginning 
to trace out His genealogy St. Luke remarked: “ And 
Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age, 



THE ANGEL APPEARS TO ZACIIARIAS. 


being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph.” That is to 
say, the people generally recognized Christ prior to His 
public career as the son of Joseph; but St. Luke fully 
explodes the fallacy of this understanding by giving in 
minute detail the facts concerning Mary’s conception by 












































































346 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


the Holy Ghost, and Christ’s entrance into the world, as 
above set forth, as the only begotten Son of God, and it 
is clear that St. Matthew, in giving the genealogy, did not 
intend it as evidence of Christ’s being the son of Joseph. 

The assumption that Joseph was the father of Christ 
was emphatically repudiated by St. Matthew in the follow¬ 
ing strong, graphic language: 

“ ~Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise : When 
as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they 
came together, she was found with child of the Holy 
Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and 
not willing to make her a public example, was minded to 
put her away privily. But while he thought on these 
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him 
in a dream, saying: Joseph, thou son of David, fear 
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is 
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall 
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for 
He shall save His people from their sins.” 

The entire history of the immaculate conception and 
Christ’s birth, with the attending circumstances as related 
by St. Matthew and St. Luke, maintains with the most 
positive assurance that Christ was the Messiah, the divine 
Son of God. 

The worship of the infant Christ, as described in St. 
Matthew, by the three wise men, represents Jesus as the 
true Lord and Saviour of humanity. 

The greetings addressed to Mary, His mother, by 
heavenly as well as by earthly visitants, confirm the same 
conclusion. 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


347 


“ The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among 
women. * * * He [her son] shall be great, and shall 

be called the Sou of the Highest; * * * and of His 

kingdom there shall be no end.” 

Elizabeth echoed the angel words, 44 Blessed art thou 
among women.” 

“ Mary the Virgin Mother, already knows that all 
generations shall call her blessed, for the mighty One has 
done great things with her. And as the fruits of her 
incarnation unfold themselves before her prophetic eye she 
proclaims that the promises to the fathers are at last ful¬ 
filled. Zacharias rejoices that 4 the Lord God of Israel ’ 
hath in the new-born Saviour 4 visited and redeemed His 
people.’ This Saviour is the Lord, whose forerunner has 
been announced by prophecy. He is the day star from on 
high, bringing a new morning to those who sat in darkness 
and death shadows of the world. Simeon desires to depart 
in peace, since his eyes have seen his Lord’s salvation. 
The babe whom he takes in his arms belongs not only to 
Bethlehem and Nazareth, He is the destined inheritance of 
the world. He is the divine Saviour. All nations are 
interested in His birth. He is to be the pride and glory of 
the new kingdom.” 

It is clear that Mr. Ingersoll’s skeptical suggestion, to 
which illusion has been made, must vanish before the light 
of the evidence bearing on this question. 

It is undisputed that Elizabeth, John’s mother, and 
Mary, the mother of Jesus, were near blood relations and 
descendants of David, who was of the seed of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob. 


348 


CHRIST THE FERFECT REALIZATION. 



It is related that after Mary’s conception she visited 
Elizabeth, and salutations of the high honor that had 
been bestowed upon them were passed. John the Baptist 
bears strong evidence that Christ, his cousin, was the 
Messiah. 


THE MEETING OF MARY AND ELIZABETH. 

James, the brother of Jesus, who witnessed His public 
career and was instructed by Him after the resurrection, 
suffered martyrdom rather than deny Him as being Lord 
and God. 

a 

The twelve disciples, who had every opportunity of learn¬ 
ing from the daily manifestations of His life and also from 












CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


349 


His mother, had unbounded faith in Him as being the 
Christ, the Son of the living God, and as such worshiped 
Him. 

St. Paul, who also had every opportunity of knowing the 
facts, who had conversed with James the brother of Jesus, 
and who claimed to have been personally instructed by Christ 
after the resurrection, worshiped Him as God. He declares 
that Christ had emptied Himself of the form of God and 
taken upon Him the form of a servant. He said: 

“ Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest 
in the flesh.” 

These expressions of faith, and many other similar 
declarations, are inexplicable except on the theory of the 
sacred reality of the divine incarnation. 

In confirmation of this testimony, Christ possessed a 
deep, mysterious consciousness that He was the Messiah, 
the only begotten Son of God, and that God dwelt in Him, 
and through Him, was being revealed to the world. To 
the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He announced that 
He was the Messiah. To Nicodemus He declared Himself 
to be the only begotten Son of God. He said: 

“ I came down from heaven. * * * Before Abraham 

was, I am.” 

In his initiatory prayer, He said: 

“ And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own 
self, with the glory I had with Thee before the world 
was.” 

Christ’s life of unparalleled wisdom, and the many rays of 
divinity that emanated from Him, confirm the reality of this 
consciousness and the testimony of His witnesses, all of 


350 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


which is corroborated and sustained by the evidential force 
of prophecy and its perfect fulfillment in Christ’s life. 

As further corroborative evidence of this contention, 
Christ stands not only pre-eminent but immeasurably so in 
aim and method as a teacher when contrasted with other 
religious teachers and the philosophers. 

First.—• No one else has ever appeared who approaches 
His earnestness and methods of teaching. The first thing 
that attracts the attention of every discriminating student 
of Christ’s recorded life is His intense earnestness and the 
sacred reality of His utterances. The student is at once 
forced to appreciate his contact with a power whose pur¬ 
pose is to bring him under subjection to moral obligation 
and duty. 

In no single instance did Christ indulge in metaphysical 
discussions of the theories of moral obligation, such as have 
characterized the work of all other philosophers and 
teachers, who, in striking contrast with Him, have spent 
much time and ardent labor in trying to reason out the 
bases of moral obligation and duty. These Jesus Christ 
assumes to exist and to be known by every enlightened 
conscience as a part of the innate and moral constitution of 
each individual, and that this element of man’s being is 
testified to by his conscience. 

The unmistakable contrast between the method of 
Christ’s teachings and that of the philosophers has given 
to Christians a moral force and catholicity that cannot be 
found in any other system. As a means of enforcing 
man’s obedience to moral obligation and duty, and as a 
means of creating in each individual a desire for holiness, 



( 351 ) 


JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN 



















CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


353 


Christ appeals to every ennobling and inspiring principle 
that operates on man’s moral nature. He calls man's 
attention to the love of God as exemplified in His own 
unparalleled life of self-sacrifice, and employs it as an 
incentive to righteousness. He appeals to the principles 
of benevolence, to man’s self-love, and to his love for 
others; to his sense and appreciation of truth, justice, and 
of what is honorable; to his self-respect, and even to 
his desire for praise. These, He assumes, form a con¬ 
stituent part of the moral nature, and are attested by the 
conscience of every individual. 

St. Paul, in exemplifying the spirit of Christ’s teach¬ 
ings, appeals in one sentence to no less than seven of these 
principles. He says: 

“ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what¬ 
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, what¬ 
soever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any 
virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 

In striking contrast with all this are the methods that 
have been pursued by philosophers and moralists. Instead 
of appealing to these principles and earnestly commending 
them to the conscience as a means to obedience, right liv¬ 
ing, and purity of heart, they have spent much time and 
labor in the elaboration of fine-spun theories in reference to 
many questions respecting man’s moral obligations, for 
example, as to whether love for others or natural self-love 
constitutes the chief principle of virtue; and as these com¬ 
paratively unimportant questions have been determined in 
one way or another, great systems have been constructed 


354 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


in which other and far more vital principles of man’s moral 
nature have been ignored. 

In other moral and religious systems some of these prin¬ 
ciples have been repudiated, while still others are charac¬ 
terized by theories involving local, social, sectional, or 
national bias or prejudice. Christ’s teachings, on the con¬ 
trary, embrace and exemplify all of the elements and 
principles inherent in man’s moral nature, and are as 
broad, comprehensive, and catholic as humanity itself. 

The conclusion is inevitable that Christ’s method of 
teaching and the principles He enunciated and relied upon 
as incentives to moral obedience and the practice of virtue, 
were original, and that He did not learn them from the 
hot-beds of narrow-minded religious bigotry which He had 
breathed from His earliest childhood. 

To attribute such high achievements to exalted genius is 
to confess our utter inability to account for this phenomenal 
contrast on any known principle or force that has operated 
or energized in other human beings. Therefore the 
presumption is that Christ was what He claimed to be. 

Second.— The teachings of Jesus Christ have estab¬ 
lished the religion of humanity. One utterance alone of 
His, which is applicable to all tribes, races, and nations of 
people, has placed the foundation of His religion on a basis 
that will endure forever. I refer to His great and all-com¬ 
prehensive utterance to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s 
well: 

“ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour 
cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at 
Jerusalem worship the Father. * * * But the hour 



THE 


THE 


SERMON ON 


MOUNT 


( 355 ) 

































k 



























CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


357 


cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship 
the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh 
such to worship Him. God is a Spirit; and they that 
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 

This utterance was a complete refutation of all that was 
local, national, ritualistic, and outward in the midst of 
which Christ was born and nurtured. And upon this an¬ 
nouncement rests forevermore the worship of God as our 
Heavenly Father in spirit and in truth, and not in form, 
animal sacrifice, ritualistic service, or ceremonials. 

We ask and press the question, How can the insight and 
originality of this Galilean Teacher be accounted for, 
especially in view of the religious fanaticism with which 
He was environed? If skeptics answer exalted genius, 
then we say it must be a genius illuminated by the super¬ 
natural. 

Third.— The relative importance that the teachings of 
Jesus Christ place upon the milder virtues as compared 
with the political and heroical, is in striking contrast with 
the estimations of the philosophers. In all their systems 
the political and heroical virtues rank first in importance. 
Christ, however, reverses this order, and places the milder 
virtues first. In the opening sentences of the Sermon on 
the Mount, which is conceded to be the magna charta of 
Christ's teachings, He said: 

“ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the king¬ 
dom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they 
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall 
inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger 

and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 

20 


358 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the 
children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted 
for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven. * * * Let your light so shine before men 

that they may see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven.” 

But while Jesus has laid special stress upon the milder 
virtues, and has earnestly enjoined their observance, the 
world presents no grander example of courage and self- 
respect than that of Ilis life. It exhibits a perfection of 
conscious dignity and moral courage that is without a par¬ 
allel, and it eclipses all the theories and examples of the 
philosophers. And while Christ’s disciples have not written 
any lengthy disquisitions on the virtues of courage and 
heroism, yet by their lives they have exhibited bright 
examples, encouraging its practice when necessary in the 
discharge and vindication of conscious duty. 

Assuming that Christ has changed the order of the 
milder virtues by giving them the first place, and has 
emphasized this change of order by being the first to 
observe them in the conduct of His own life, the impor¬ 
tant question is, Has Christ, in advocating and exemplifying 
this course, displayed greater insight into human nature 
and greater concern for the public welfare than all other 
philosophers and moralists? 

Bearing on the solution of this problem, it has been 
appropriately said: 

“ If this question can be decided by authority, there 


JESUS AND THE TRIBUTE MONEY. 





















































































































































































































































































































































































































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CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


361 


cannot be a doubt that since Christianity has pronounced 
in favor of the milder virtues an overwhelming majority 
of the wisest and holiest of men have accepted its decision 
as the correct one. 

“ There can be no doubt that if during the last three 
thousand years the milder virtues had occupied in man’s 
estimation the place which the heroic ones have held, the 
happiness of mankind would have been increased many 
fold. Take, for example, the three great political virtues 
of courage, patriotism and ambition, which have in all 
ages commanded the most unbounded admiration. 

“ When we calmly survey the pages of history, is it, 
I ask, too much to affirm that a large portion of the 
crimes with which they have been stained has been due 
to the unrestrained action of these three qualities — qualities 
noble in themselves, but which become simply pernicious 
when uncontrolled and unregulated by the predominant 
influence of the milder virtues? Political and heroic virtues 
are highly valuable when kept in proper subordination to 
the milder qualities of the human mind; but when they 
reign supreme and alone, as they have generally done 
throughout the ages of the past, the perniciousness of 
their influence has been only in proportion to their 
greatness. 

“ I claim, therefore, that in reversing the order of the 
importance of the virtues, Christ showed a profound in¬ 
sight into the realities of human nature, and that He is 
right in assigning the first place to the fruits of the 
spirit of God.” 

The skeptical Lecky said: “ Christ has done more to 


362 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION 


soften and regenerate mankind than all of the disquisitions 
of the philosophers and than all of the exhortations of 
the moralists.” 

Fourth. — The teachings of Christ are free from an 
attempt at political legislation. The universal practice of 
the ancient teachers and philosophers was exactly the 
reverse. Their only hope for the regeneration of man 
was based upon what they regarded sound political and 
social institutions. Hence, in their moral dissertations 
they often sketched an ideal republic or other political 
institution, never to be realized. 

The Hebrew nation paid but little attention to philosophy 
or any system of morality; but they entertained the most 
profound reverence and respect for the teachings of the 
Old Testament Scriptures, which not only presented a 
political system of alleged divine authority, but the teach¬ 
ings of their priests and prophets were addressed generally 
to Israel in its corporate, political capacity, over which it 
was believed God ruled as King. 

Now it is clear that if the teachings of Jesus Christ in 
this respect had been evolved out of Jewish or Gentile con¬ 
ceptions and theories, this marked contrast could not 
possibly have existed. This contrast grows more startling 
when we keep before us the fact that Christ claimed to be 
the founder of a new kingdom, and yet His teachings were 
free from political or social questions. The kingdom which 
He established was totally different from any other ever 
suggested or proposed, being spiritual, and was based upon 
convictions, persuasions, and supreme love for its founder 
as an adored King and Lord. 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


363 


For eighteen centuries this kingdom has steadily grown 
in capacity and beneficent influence; and to-day it is 
accomplishing more in regenerating and softening man¬ 
kind than the combined efforts of all other institutions. 

The only recorded political allusion that Christ made 
during His public career was “ Render to Caesar the things 
that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 
This characteristic utterance forever emancipated the con¬ 
science of each individual from the control of the state, 
assigned to each its respective province, and established 
individual liberty. 

In view of Christ’s education and environments we ask, 
How was it that He possessed the insight that enabled Him 
to abstain from discussing all political and social questions 
which, as we now know, would have proved fatal to the 
success of His kingdom? Notwithstanding the fact that 
He specially refrained from publicly considering any of 
these questions, His all-comprehensive teachings of self- 
sacrifice, duty to each other, and love for God embrace 
every possible political, social and religious observance 
which is conducive to the welfare of mankind. 

If Christ had pursued the course of other teachers and 
philosophers, and had addressed Himself to the external, to 
the formal, political and social, instead of appealing to the 
conscience of each individual and bringing to bear every 
ennobling and inspiring principle that belongs to man’s 
moral constitution, doubtless Christianity would have 
proved an absolute failure. 

The manner in which he handled the question of slavery 
is conclusive evidence of His profound wisdom and super- 


364 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION 


natural insight. Many modern teachers would have had 
Christ denounce the institution of slavery as being wicked, 
cruel, and inhuman. Had he done so it would have 
brought down upon Him and his religion the entire force 
and power of the Roman Empire, and could not at that 



JONAH WARNS NINEVEH. 


time possibly have accomplished the end desired. But the 
course he did pursue has finally in all Christian nations 
effectually accomplished the glorious result. Instead of 
making an attack directly upon slavery, the great Teacher 
enunciated certain principles, the existence of which, when 



























CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


365 


properly applied, rendered the institution of slavery intoler¬ 
able and the perpetuation of it impossible. 

The doctrine of the fatherhood of God and the brother¬ 
hood of man, and the duties enjoined upon man toward his 
neighbor in every condition of life, forever laid the ax at 
the root of slavery, and the leaven which has emanated 
from these great principles has revolutionized the entire 
dominion of Christian thought, until after a severe struggle 
continued for centuries, slavery has finally become extinct 
in every country that pays allegiance to the teachings of 
Jesus Christ. 

There is no character of evidence that can be more con¬ 
vincing in establishing the supernatural insight of Christ 
than His wisdom in dealing with this and kindred ques¬ 
tions. Skeptics may attribute this insight to exalted 
genius. If so, we reply that it is a genius inspired by the 
insight of an all-wise God. 

The plane of Christ’s teachings, immeasurably above 
those of the philosophers and other religious instructors, is 
in perfect harmony with His profound consciousness that 
He was “the light of the world,” “the only begotten 
Son ” of God, in whom “ dw^elleth all the fullness of the 
Godhead bodily.” 

Christ’s consciousness of possessing superhuman wisdom 
is unmistakable. In referring to His superiority over the 
greatest philosophers and teachers, He said: 

“ The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this 
generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at 
the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas 
is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judg- 


360 CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 

ment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she 
came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wis¬ 
dom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is 
here.” “ All things are delivered unto Me by My Father, 
and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and 
who the Father is but the Son, and He to whom the Son 
will reveal Him. Many prophets and kings have desired 
to see those things which ye see and have not seen them, 
and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard 
them.” 

St. Luke, in describing Christ as a child, said: 

“ He waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom • and the 
grace of God was upon Him.” 

St. John said: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word w~as 
with God, and the Word was God. * * * And the 

Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), 
full of grace and truth.” 

These expressions of St. John imply, first: That Christ 
was in possession of the fullness of all truth, which was one 
of the chief elements of His glory; in other words, He was 
God incarnate. 

St. Paul asserted, in harmony with other high claims: 

“ In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge.” 

There are other manifestations of Christ’s character that 
are in harmony with the perfection of His wisdom, Ilis 
insight into the future, and His consciousness of divine 
greatness. He claimed and asserted sinless perfection, and 
said : 



JESUS BIDS FAREWELL TO HIS MOTHER 


(367) 












































































































































































































































































































































































































CHRIST THK PERFECT REALIZATION. 


369 


“ For the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing 
in Me.” 

The perfection of Christ’s teachings strongly corrobo¬ 
rates this consciousness. His disciples, who saw the daily 
manifestations of His life, had perfect and unbounded con¬ 
fidence in the sinless perfection of His character. 

St. John said : “ In Him is no sin.” 

St. Peter said : “ Who did no sin, neither was guile found 
in His mouth.” 

St. Paul said: “Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, sep¬ 
arate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. 
But was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without 
sin. Who knew no sin.” 

In his three years as a public teacher Christ daily appealed 
to men to sin no more, and at the same time claimed to 
forgive sins, necessarily implying that He Himself was sin¬ 
less. Standing before His critical and bitter enemies, He 
said : “ Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And if I say 
the truth, why do ye not believe Me?” meaning that He 
was sinless, and that they knew it. 

Applying the crucial test of the purest and best men in 
all ages, Christ is alone in possession of the miraculous 
manifestation of a consciousness of being perfect and sin¬ 
less, sustained by an outer life in harmony with it. When 
the consciousness of greatness and of divine relationship is 
considered in connection with His unparalleled teachings, 
corroborated and sustained by a faultless, sinless character, 
the evidence becomes invincible and overwhelming, and 
sustains the sacred reality of Christ’s divinity. 

Christ exhibited another phase of character— an influ- 


370 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


ence over men that to our mind is equally convincing. 
The manner in which he gathered His disciples about Him, 
and inspired their perfect faith in His divine mission and 
relationship to God, is marvelous; and when these facts 
are considered in connection with the grandeur of His 
character, and the heroism displayed in triumphantly and 
miraculously purging the Lord’s Temple, His divine, mag¬ 
netic influence and power grows upon us. 

The occasion was the Passover. By long custom the 
Temple had been misused, desecrated, and converted into a 
Babel by consent of the leaders in authority. Stalls had 
been rented for cattle, sheep, and dovecotes, and offices 
to money-changers. There had gathered people from 
Judea, Galilee, Perea, and all of the surrounding country. 

Exchanges of money and sales of sacrificial animals 
were going on. The officers of the law, the judges of 
the highest court of Judea, the owners of the cattle, 
sheep, doves and money, the priests, leaders in authority, 
and many thousand visitors and spectators, were attending 
the Passover, paying their vows and discharging their 
annual religious duties. 

So far as was generally known, Christ was without 
parental distinction or prestige. He had but a short 
time prior to this laid down His carpenter’s tools, with 
which He had been honorably working as a mechanic. 
He had gathered around him but few followers, and they 
consisted of illiterate fishermen and uneducated women. 
In other words, when Christ approached the desecrated 
Temple, He was, humanly speaking, unsupported and 
unaided. 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


371 


With these surroundings, with a consciousness of 
supreme authority, and armed with only a small whip, 
He entered the Temple in the presence of the mighty 
concourse of people, officers of the law, judges in authority, 
and the owners of the cattle, sheep and money, and with 
His whip uplifted drove out the cattle and sheep, over¬ 
turned the money-changers’ tables, and cried out in an 
authoritative voice that had the effect of an electric 
shock: 

“ Take these things hence ; make not My Father’s house 
a house of merchandise ! ” 

The claims He assumed and the divine authority He 
manifested thrilled with awe the entire assemblage, and 
in their amazement no attempt was made to check or 
arrest Him. 

The owners of the sheep, cattle, doves and money 
appreciated the fact, it would seem, that no other punish¬ 
ment was to be inflicted. The judges, officers of the law 
and rulers trembled as their consciences were pierced by 
His acts, His commands and His exercise of authority. As 
conclusive evidence of the consternation this act of divine 
heroism produced, Nicodemus, a doctor of the law and 
a judge of the Sanhedrim, still laboring under its influence, 
several hours later approached Christ, and said : 

“ Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from 
God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest 
except God be with him.” 

The more we contemplate this stupendous act of heroism 
and the marvelous effect that it produced, the more 
Christ’s divinely attractive life manifests itself. 


372 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


A recent craze has caused men in the West, especially 
in the Indian Territory, to band themselves together, and 
with repeating Winchesters hold up and rob unarmed 
travelers, and to enter small villages and rob banks in 
the presence of unarmed officials; but never before or 
since in the history of the world has an uneducated 
mechanic, without parental prestige, without any material 
support from his followers, and without any weapon more 
dangerous than a scourge of small cords, dared to enter 
upon such an expedition as this, in the presence of such 
an array of judges, officers of the law, owners of the 
property and such a concourse of people. 

The stalls for the cattle, sheep and doves, and the offices 
for the money-changers had been rented and paid for, 
under the approval of the leaders in authority. By long- 
continued usage, the unquestioned right to do these things 
had acquired an authority which was the equivalent of a 
legislative enactment. The defiance and public rebuke of 
so august a body as the Jewish Sanhedrim and its officers, 
and the summary dispossession of so many tenants under 
such humiliating circumstances, present a picture of 
unparalleled triumph. And when this unearthly trans¬ 
action, in absolute defiance of the authority and power of 
the nation, is considered in connection with Christ’s 
unparalleled wisdom and perfection as a teacher, His 
divine, sinless character, and sincere consciousness of His 
greatness and divine power, the achievement is nothing 
more or less than should be expected. 

The divine manifestation of His character accumulates 
in its evidential force. 



NICODEMUS COMES TO JESUS BY NIGHT. (373) 























































CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


375 


As we have previously shown, the Hebrew nation 
expected a Messiah, but one who would come as a con¬ 
quering hero. Their prophetic Shiloh was expected to 
re-establish Israel, conquer all nations, and found a uni¬ 
versal kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital, or center of 
dispensing power. 

But Christ’s course was in direct conflict with their 
conception of a coming Messiah, and by this course He 
brought Himself in decisive and bitter conflict with those 
who controlled their national affairs. Hence they met in 
council and resolved that, in the interest of the perpetua¬ 
tion of their nation and their time-honored religious 
institutions, He should be put to death. To that end the 
Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy-one judges, convened 
and ordered His immediate arrest. The officers found 
Him standing before a large assemblage of people discuss¬ 
ing the claims of His divine mission and the penetrating 
heart-searching doctrines of His kingdom. 

The power and majesty with which He presented His 
claims and the grandeur of His teachings so amazed and 
overawed the officers that they feared even to make or 
attempt His arrest, and when returning to the court, the 
chief-justice cried out, “ Why have ye not brought Him? ” 
the officers made this startling reply: “ Never man spake 
like this man ! ” 

The Judge then inquired as to whether or not any of the 
Pharisees believed in Him, and then declared that those 
who did were condemned by their law. 

Nicodemus, who prior to this had had a personal inter¬ 
view with Christ, and who had witnessed His signal victory 


376 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


in purging the Temple, replied that under their law con¬ 
demnation could not be pronounced until an opportunity 
had been given for the accused to be heard and he had been 
regularly tried. The other judges, becoming demoralized, 
impatient, and angry, turned to Kicodemus and cried out: 

“Art thou also from Galilee? ” 

In confusion the court adjourned, and each Judge retired, 
leaving Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, to 
continue His divine mission. 

We repeat: The manner in which Christ gathered His 
disciples and their perfect faith in Him, His heroism and 
miraculous triumph in purging the Temple, together with 
His display of divine power, personal magnetism, and 
unprecedented conduct in overpowering officers and stam¬ 
peding a court consisting of seventy-one judges, His 
perfect teachings and sinless character, fully justified His 
consciousness of superhuman greatness and a divine 
mission, and are in perfect harmony with it. 

Christ presents a striking contrast with the philosophers 
and all other teachers in His estimate of human life, and by 
the views He entertained of the object and extent of His 
mission. 

All nature attests the fact that man was not only the 
inspiration but the coronation of all creation. But nature 
cannot tell us the origin of life, or the source of man’s 
exalted intellect and reasoning power. This, Mr. Darwin, 
the champion of evolution, concedes. In responding to 
this question, he said: 

“I have nothing to do with the origin of the mental 
powers any more than I have to do with the origin of life 

































































































































































































































































































































































CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


379 


itself. In what manner the mental powers were first 
developed in the lowest organism is as hopeless an inquiry 
as how life itself first originated.” 

The contention of the evolutionist is that the biblical 
account of creation as related in Genesis is an inspired 
figurative expression. Drummond, advocating this view, 
says: 

“ From the lips of the prophet another vision, an old and 
beautiful story, was told to the childhood of the earth, of 
how God made man, how with His own hands He gathered 
the Bactrian dust, modeled it, breathed upon it, and it 
became a living soul. 

“ Later, the insight of the Hebrew poet taught man a 
deeper lesson. He saw that there was more in creation 
than mechanical production. He saw that the Creator had 
different kinds of hands and different ways of modeling. 
How it was done he knew not, but it was not the surface 
thing his forefathers taught him. The higher mystery 
broke upon him. Man was a secret and wonderful thing. 
He was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 

“ When science came in, it was not to contradict the old 
versions. It but gave them content and still a richer 
meaning. What the prophet said, and the poet saw, and 
science proved, all and equally will abide forever. For all 
alike are voices of the Unseen, commissioned to different 
people and for different ends to declare the mystery of the 
ascent of man.” 

By nature man has, in all ages, possessed a conviction 
more or less strong that this world was not his abiding 
home, but that beyond the dreamless and speechless grave 


380 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


there awaited him a higher and happier destiny. Christ, 
in confirmation of this wide conviction, and in recognizing 
and establishing man’s supreme position in creation, has 
given some graphic and distinguishing characteristics. 
He said: 

“ "Who is it that hath an ox or an ass that would not on 
the Sabbath day loose it and lead it to water?” and then 
declared man to be of more importance than the ox, ass or 
sheep. He said: 

“ Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; 
which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth 
them. How much more are ye better than the 
fowls? * * * Consider the lilies how they grow, 
they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, 
that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
these.” “ If, then, God so clothe the grass which is to¬ 
day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how 
much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith!” 
“ And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able 
to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to de¬ 
stroy both the soul and body in hell.” “ Are not two 
sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not 
fall on the ground without your Father’s knowledge. But 
the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye 
not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” 

In discussing the shepherd rejoicing over his lost but 
found sheep, Christ said: 

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven 
over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and 
nine just persons which need no repentance.” 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


381 


The ancient philosophers entertained no such lofty con¬ 
ception of man, nor were they even able to advance any 
theory or accomplish anything that would aid in regene¬ 
rating, reclaiming and reforming the prodigals of the 
human race. The teachings of all philosophers and moral¬ 
ists prior to Christ’s appearance were directed to the 
educated, and to those whose tendency was to virtue, or 
who possessed wealth sufficient to retire from the masses 
and reform by living aesthetic lives. It was while the 
Scribes were repeating the saying of Hille, “ 'No unedu¬ 
cated man easily avoids sin, no man of the people can be 
pious,” that Christ appeared and declared that Ilis mission 
was to the abandoned and fallen prodigals of earth. He 
associated with publicans and sinners, and the common 
people heard Him gladly. He said that the well needed no 
physician; that His mission was to the sick and fallen, the 
moral wrecks; and He expressed full faith in accomplish¬ 
ing the object and purpose of His mission, and absolutely 
reversed the theories of all the philosophers and teachers 
who had ever preceded Him. 

In connection with this, the most significant and inter¬ 
esting proposition that can possibly command our attention, 
and one that should never be lost sight of, is that Christ’s 
entrance into this world was amid poverty, and that Mary, 
his mother, was of the common people. Unlike the sons 
of royalty and wealth, his advent was not ushered in amid 
unbounded luxuries and with wealthy dignitaries attending. 
He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. But in 
the estimation of God, His Father, this fact did not in the 
slightest degree detract from His future possibility and 


382 


CHRIST TIIE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


greatness; and since the creation of the world, when the 
morning stars sang together for joy, no other son born of 
woman or any other occurrence has so attracted the atten¬ 
tion of the heavenly host, prophetic of future blessing and 
glory, as was bestowed upon the Son of Mary. 

The greatest musicians in the heavenly courts were com¬ 
missioned to proclaim His birth; but it will be noted that 
the heavenly visitors were not sent to earthly kings or to 
leaders of nations, but to the shepherds, who were of the 
common people, and who possessed faith in the God of 
their fathers. The fact that Christ manifested so much 
solicitude on behalf of publicans, sinners, the sick, poor 
and afflicted, is but natural and Godlike. It is the sad con¬ 
sequences of sin, the reformation of prodigals, the possi¬ 
bilities of each individual, whether rich or poor, that most 
concern the redeemed of Heaven as well as our Creator 
and Saviour. It is not royal dignity but purity of heart 
and character that secure the attention and the ardent 
appreciation of God our Father. 

Not only was Christ’s birth heralded by a concourse of 
celestial beings praising God on high, and prophetically 
proclaiming peace on e\irth and good will toward men, 
but by a’blazing star in the heavens which attracted the 
attention of three of the wisest men of that century, who at 
once left home and traveled a long distance to offer gifts 
and pay honors to the child whose future mission was to 
elevate and bless humanity. 

We have but limited information concerning Christ’s 
early childhood. St. Luke tells us that “ the child grew, 
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the 



































































































































































































































CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 385 

grace of God was upon Him.” And that when twelve 
years of age, He was found “in the temple, sitting in the 
midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them 
questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His 
understanding and answers.” 

When His mother inquired of Him why He had left 
them, He replied: 

“ Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s 
business? ” 

When this reply, “ Wist ye not that I must be about 
My Father’s business,” is considered in connection with 
his subsequent prayer, “ I have glorified Thee on the 
earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me 
to do; and now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine 
own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the 
world was,” and with His touching expression while in 
the articles and agonies of death on the cross, “ It is 
finished,” — it becomes clear that at the age of twelve 
He possessed a consciousness more or less strong of His 
divine mission. His display of wisdom in asking and 
answering questions, considered in connection with His 
future career, will not bear any other construction. 

This being true, the question has been asked, Why did 
He delay His mission until He was thirty years of age? 
The answer to this is plain, when we keep in view the fact 
that Mary, His mother, and Elizabeth, the mother of John, 
were closely related and intimate with each other, and that 
after the angel Gabriel had appeared to Zacharias and 
announced the birth of John, and to Mary announcing the 
birth of Jesus, that Mary immediately visited Elizabeth, 


386 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


and that salutations were passed in honor of the fact that 
they had been highly favored among women. 

It is related that John did not enter upon his mission 
until specially directed by the Word of God, and it was an 
understood fact that John was to precede Christ, declaring 
the Kingdom of God and announcing His coming, as a 
part of the Messianic plan, all of which Christ the Son 
of God in whom His Father dwelt, was conscious- 

Prior to Christ’s advent philosophers and moralists con¬ 
fined their teachings and mission to their own nation and 
people. Not one entertained the conception or possessed 
the consciousness of being divinely called as the king of a 
spiritual kingdom that would embrace and bless all nations, 
or that would evangelize the world. The unprecedented 
conception of founding the religion of humanity and of 
establishing the Kingdom of God, embracing a universal 
society that was to be co-extensive with the world, and 
would endure to the end of time, was the original work 
and plan of the great Galilean Teacher, the founder of 
Christianity. 

“ The idea of the Kingdom of God issues almost as if 
in a single jet, and from a fully developed plan, from the 
thought of Jesus Christ.” 

The Sermon on the Mount, the magna charta of His 
kingdom, the charge to the twelve apostles, the parables of 
the kingdom, the discourse in the upper room, and the 
institution of the two' sacraments, give us the great 
Teacher’s plan, and He enunciates it with a calm, unfalter¬ 
ing, unbounded assurance of its success and its full realiza¬ 
tion in future history. 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


387 


The laws and maxims of Christ's kingdom were new and 
original, and He declared that the Gospel of His kingdom 
would be preached unto all the world, and that the days 
would come when there would be only one flock and one 
shepherd. He distinctly said to His apostles: 

“ Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you; and, lo! I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world.” 

By this Christ meant that He would be the propelling 
and invigorating force of His kingdom and teaching to 
the end of time. A poor woman paid Him homage as an 
expression of her love for Him as Lord and God. With a 
perfect confidence and calm assurance in the triumph of 
His Gospel and kingdom, Christ simply announced that the 
act and example of this woman would be told as a memorial 
of Him throughout the world, wherever the Gospel was 
preached. He spoke as one who had before Him a per¬ 
fect vision of the long, checkered future, in the foreground 
of which was His own death on the cross, and He talked as 
one who is absolutely certain that His work was indestruc¬ 
tible. He said: 

“ The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall 
not pass away.” 

The originality and boldness of Christ’s plan is absolutely 
unique and wonderful. He deliberately claims the right to 
be the center of human affection, to rule all human thought, 
to be the lawgiver of humanity, and the object of man’s 


388 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


devotion. He places Himself before the world as the true 
goal of its expectations; points to His proposed work as 
the one hope for its future, and assumes that the world 
needed the universal religion that He as God incarnate had 
come to reveal. He exhibited the attractiveness of His 
person and character with an assurance that it would give 
life, activity and energizing force, which were essential to 
its success and final triumph over every difficulty and oppo¬ 
sition . 

From the beginning of His public career Christ expressed 
a consciousness that the cross was an essential part of the 
Messianic plan as a means of expressing His love for 
humanity, and as a magnet to draw the world unto Him • 
and that the resurrection and ascension were essential as a 
means of banishing skepticism and inspiring faith in the 
immortality of the human soul, and in order to fasten the 
thoughts of men on heaven as their ultimate and abiding 
home. 

It is clear that Christ’s death on the cross was designed 
to touch the tender chords of the human heart, and to 
inspire love for Him as an attractive and effectual method 
of enforcing obedience to God’s will, and as an incentive 
to righteousness. Doubtless this “ lifting up ” of Christ 
upon the cross was agreed upon in the eternal councils of 
God before man’s creation as one of the attractive features 
of the Messianic plan. That John the Baptist had some 
knowledge of this matter is shown by the fact that in 
introducing Christ as the Messiah he said: 

“ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins 
of the world.” 



THE CRUCIFIXION 


(389) 

























CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


391 


This language, considered in connection with other 
facts, can mean but one thing, and that is that Christ had 
been provided as a lamb to be slain, as an expression of 
God’s love for men, and as an effectual remedy against 
sin. The serpent made of brass by Moses, and set up on a 
pole by the command of the Lord, to be looked upon as a 
means of healing those bitten by a serpent, was typical of 
the cross of Christ as an object to contemplate as a means 
of inspiring obedience and holiness. In confirmation of 
this view, St. John said: 

“ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” 

Christ, in calm assurance of this truth, said : 

“ I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” 

The blood of all heifers, bullocks, sheep and other 
animals and fowls that have been shed as a sacrificial 
offering from the da} 7 s of righteous Abel until the blood of 
the Lamb of God was shed on Calvary was typical of and 
foreshadowed this, the most inspiring event in the entire 
history of man. 

The cross was the goal to which Christ ardently looked 
as the crowning work of His earthly career. He made this 
fact known at the supper instituted the night of the be¬ 
trayal, when he commanded Judas to “quickly” enter 
upon His mission. When Judas had gone, Christ, aglow 
with the divine love and light that would radiate and shine 
forth from the cross as the crowning gloiy of His mission, 
turned to His disciples and said: 

“ Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified 
in Him.” 


392 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


Without a precedent in the entire history of the world, 
while sitting in the very shadow of death, with unfaltering 
faith and perfect assurance of the triumph of His kingdom 
in its world-contest, and wilh absolute composure He made 
provision that not only His death but all of its agony should 
never be forgotten, He took bread and brake it and gave 
to His disciples, saying: 

66 This is My body broken for you; this do in remem¬ 
brance of Me.” In like manner He took the cup saying, 
“ This is My blood shed for you; this do in remembrance 
of Me.” 

Was ever serenity like this? Can anything more touch¬ 
ing and more sublime than this be conceived? Was it ever 
heard of before or since, that a person in the position of a 
malefactor took pains to preserve the memory of His dis¬ 
graceful death? Jesus Christ, about to be crucified as a 
felon, commanded and provided that the fact should be 
remembered to the end of time — did so in the full confi¬ 
dence that He should at last triumph — and the fact has 
been remembered. This is the mystery ! If He be not all 
that He claimed to be, this is truly more miraculous than 
anything ever so called, more inexplicable on all material 
principles. 

When standing before the council that condemned Him, 
conscious of the fact that He had at His command the 
resources of Heaven, He said: 

“ My kingdom is not of this world ; if My kingdom were 
of this world, then would My servants fight that I should 
not be delivered to the Jews.” 

Pilate said: 

“ Art Thou a king, then? ” 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


393 


Jesus answered : 

“ To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into 
the world. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting 
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of 
heaven.” 

While on the cross, still clinging to His divine mission, 
He extended pardon to the thief who expressed faith in 
Him, and pathetically set the example of praying for our 
enemies. And when, in the articles and agony of death, 
conscious of the fact that he had purchased the world’s 
love, and that His earthly mission of suffering was ended, 
He exclaimed: 

“ It is finished.” 

An eclipse had veiled the face of the sun, and the moun¬ 
tains were made to tremble by an earthquake that rent the 
veil of the Temple from top to bottom. 

When the crowds who were watching Jesus saw His 
God-like death, and that heaven and earth were being 
convulsed in sympathy with His dying agonies, they 
became alarmed, and the centurion cried out: 

“ Truly this was the Son of God! ’ ’ 

The consternation that necessarily followed among those 
who had aided in condemning, abusing, scourging and 
putting Christ to death, in view of the sympathy that was 
being manifested by heaven and earth in behalf of the dying 
Lord, can be better imagined than accurately described. 

About this time, Joseph, who was a councilor, a rich 
and a just man of Arimathea, who was a believer in 
Christ’s mission, and who was at heart one of His dis¬ 
ciples, appealed to Pilate for the body. His plea was 


394 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


granted. Nicodemus, who was one of the judges of the 
Sanhedrim, and who had expressed faith in Christ’s divine 
mission, in the evening after the Temple had been purged, 
and whose interference in His behalf and in that of His 
followers, on the occasion of the report of the officers 
that “ Never man spake like this man,” which resulted in 
the confusion and adjournment of the court, also appeared 
with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, to aid Joseph in the 
preparation and burial of the body in Joseph’s new tomb, 
which was in the garden near the place of crucifixion. 

On the day following the burial, the chief priests and 
Pharisees reminded Pilate that Christ had said that if He 
were put to death He would rise again on the third day, 
therefore the sepulcher was sealed and guarded. But on 
the morning of the third day, an angel, “ whose counte¬ 
nance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow,” 
broke the seal and rolled away the stone. 

The frightened guards rushed to the elders and high 
priests and made known what had occurred. After full 
consultation the guards were paid to say that the friends 
of Jesus had stolen the body while they were asleep ; and 
perfect indemnity was guaranteed them against the death 
penalty for sleeping while on duty. 

Mary Magdalene and others went early to the sepulcher 
for the purpose of anointing the body, according to the 
Jewish custom of that day, and there an angel approached 
them, saying: 

“ Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which 
was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen. * * * 

Go quickly and tell His disciples.” 



THE DESCENT FROM T1IE CROSS 


(395) 











CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


397 


And as they went, Jesus met them, saying : “ All hail! ” 
and they worshiped Him. He said unto them, “ Touch Me 
not, for I‘am not yet ascended to My Father.” 

Jesus afterward met His disciples and assured them that 
He was the risen Lord, at the same time exhibiting His 
lacerated feet, hands and pierced side. And after satisfy¬ 
ing them, He said: 

“ Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to 
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His 
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye 
are witnesses of these things.” 

After instructing His disciples for many days in refer¬ 
ence to the nature and character of His kingdom, and in 
regard to their duty in preaching the Gospel, finally, while 
in the act of blessing them, “ He was parted from them 
and carried up into heaven.” 

Skeptics, to avoid the force of the resurrection as evi¬ 
dence of Christ’s divinity and power, have denied its reality. 
Though admitting His death, burial and the open, vacant 
sepulcher, they have urged that Christ’s disciples had 
stolen the body. But this theory has been exploded by 
the great revolution made in His disciples’ conceptions as 
to the nature and character of the Messianic kingdom, and 
of Christ’s mission, together with the enthusiasm and 
courage they manifested in the vindication of their faith, 
so that men like Peter, who immediately previous to Christ’s 
resurrection had been cowards, were in defense of their faith 
in their risen and ascended Lord soon afterward inspired 
with the courage of a lion and the spirit of a martyr. 


398 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


At the present day it is conceded by all who have studied 
the nature of men and the influence that is absolutely 
essential to inspire such enthusiasm, faith and martyrdom 
as were displayed by the disciples, that these could not 
have been based on a known falsehood; and therefore the 
honesty and sincerity of Christ’s apostles and immediate 
followers in the resurrection and ascension are conceded. 
In the light of the evidence it is admitted, even by skeptics, 
that if the visionary theory which has been advanced as an 
excuse for or justification of the faith and enthusiasm of 
Christ’s disciples cannot be maintained, then the Christian 
theory becomes a conclusive, proven truth. 

As we have already stated, the cross, resurrection and 
ascension were but integral and absolutely essential parts 
of the Messianic plan. The halo of glory that has shone 
forth from the cross of Christ for eighteen centuries as an 
expression of God’s love and as a magnet to draw all men 
unto Him, could never have existed without the train of 
awful circumstances that began with the betrayal and 
crucifixion, and ended with the resurrection and ascension, 
and thus conclusively established the divine Sonship of 
Christ. 

From the time of Christ’s entrance upon His public 
mission to the date of His visible ascension, He declared 
to His disciples in the most positive terms that all things 
that had been written of Him by Moses in the Pentateuch, 
and by others in the Psalms and prophecies of the Old 
Testament, would be fulfilled. It was distinctly and 
specifically iterated and reiterated that He would be 
betrayed, scourged and put to death, but that the Holy 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION 


399 


One would not see corruption, but in three days would rise 
again, declaring Himself the resurrection and the life. 



JESUS DINES WITH THE DISCIPLES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. 

Christ had said many wonderful things during His life 
that His uneducated disciples did not at the time compre¬ 
hend, but which subsequent events recalled and indelibly 


22 































400 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


stamped upon their memories. For instance, on the morn¬ 
ing of the third day, when Mary Magdalene with shouts of 
praise and rejoicing rushed across valleys and over moun¬ 
tains proclaiming the risen Lord, the great truth of the 
resurrection for the first time commenced to dawn upon 
His disciples. And even then they did not appreciate the 
nature and character of His kingdom and Messianic mission, 
for they afterward approached Him and said: “ Lord, wilt 
Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? ” 

After Christ, subsequent to the resurrection, had spent 
forty days in instructing His followers concerning their 
duty as His disciples and as witnesses to His life, death and 
resurrection, and had finally and visibly ascended to His 
Father, Peter and the other disciples appeared on the day 
of Pentecost, courageous and thoroughly revolutionized in 
their convictions, and stood in the presence of the cross and 
the open grave, and boldly preached Christ and the resur¬ 
rection in defiance of those who had crucified Him. As a 
result of this preaching of facts that must have been largely 
of public note and record, over ten thousand persons were 
converted and became steadfast followers of Christ and 
members of His kingdom. 

It was at such well-authenticated dates and under such 
notable historic circumstances that the Christian Church 
had its birth. In the light of the admitted facts the 
visionary theory cannot possibly be maintained on any 
known principle or precedent. Individuals have often suf¬ 
fered with hallucinations and have had visions of non-exist¬ 
ing objective realities. But in the case before us, if the 
visionary theory be maintainable, we must believe that a 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


401 


body of men met together for a common purpose, and that 
each of them at the same time must have had a vision of 
their risen Lord, and at the same time must have received 
elaborate instructions, all of which were understood alike 
by each: on other occasions they had eaten and talked 
with Christ, and had been fairly instructed by Him as to 
the nature and character of His mission and kingdom and 
their duty as His disciples. Such a species of hallucina¬ 
tion is without a precedent. Although individual lunatics 
have often mistaken visions for realities, such an occur¬ 
rence among a number, who believed that they had each 
seen the same person, talked with and been instructed by 
Him, each understanding alike what had occurred, when 
it was all a visionary subjective conception, is unknown 
and is absolutely beyond the range of possibilities. 

In considering this question, the existence of the Chris¬ 
tian Church, with its mighty influence, which has had a 
historic life from the day of Pentecost until now, and 
has been established and maintained on the basis of faith 
in the resurrection and the risen Lord, cannot be over¬ 
estimated in its probative force as an actual reality in 
exploding the visionary theory. Especially is this true 
in view of the fact that the Messianic conception upon 
which it was constructed was new and wholly different 
in character from that which was at the time entertained 
among Christ’s disciples; and the temporal-kingdom idea 
which was replaced very soon afterward by the entirely 
different conception of Christ’s spiritual kingdom formed 
the bond of union prior to the crucifixion. His death on 
the cross forever exploded the old Messianic conception, and 


402 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


His disciples regarded their cause as forlorn and hopeless. 
As a society they were disbanded by the crucifixion. 
But immediately after the resurrection we find them again 
banded together with invincible courage and love in the 
prosecution of one common cause and purpose. Within 
a few weeks something wonderful had happened, some¬ 
thing which to the disciples changed the entire view and 



THE WALK TO EMMAUS. 

aspect of Christ’s kingdom and mission; something hap¬ 
pened on the morning of the third day that forever 
changed their plans, hopes and aspirations ; “ something 
took place which changed this earth, the whole aspect of 
life and death to them; something occurred which turned 
mourning into joy, despair into courage, darkness into day. 
All things became new to them — over hillside and valley, 
















CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 403 

along the way to Emraaus, oyer the beach of Galilee and 
the slopes of Olivet a new, unearthly light was shed and 
the earth lay before them transfigured with a new hope.’’ 

To insist that the miraculous change and the estab¬ 
lishment of the visible Christian Church in its conquest 
and triumph for good has been the result of a vis¬ 
ionary, wild conception of Christ’s disciples, which they 
all saw and understood alike, is to invite our faith and 
credulity in a miracle far greater than the actual existence 
of the resurrection as a sacred reality. 

From the day of Pentecost the progress of the Christian 
Church has been onward and upward, and its influence 
has deepened and widened in its operations. Man, by the 
aid of science and inventive genius, has accomplished 
within this century more that is tributary to his necessities 
and happiness, and more that has added grace, glory and 
luster to civilization than was achieved in all the genera¬ 
tions of the past. 

This progress and achievement have been exclusively 
the work of nations that have embraced and been domi¬ 
nated by the Christian civilization ; and what is still more 
important, this advancement has been proportioned to the 
domination of Christian principles. The Sabbath-school, 
the Young Men’s Christian Association, the various 
Church aid and auxiliary societies — potent agencies in 
advancing Christianity — have been the work of the 
nineteenth century. 

Within this century there have been organized more than 
a hundred orders, such as the Odd Fellows, the Knights 
of Pythias, etc., all of which impose upon members the 


404 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION 



most solemn obligations to work for man’s elevation and 
happiness. Yes, the chief corner-stone and the gilded 
arch of each of these orders «have been based upon the 
Christian commandment: “ Love thy neighbor as thyself.” 


THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

And through the influences of these orders and other 
semi-Christian as well as Christian agencies, the world is 
rapidly improving, and man’s desire to attain to a higher 
and a nobler life, and to observe the sacred duties that 













CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


405 


have been enjoined upon him to love his neighbor as 
himself, have been intensified. 

In all heathen and Gentile nations man has maintained 
the great inferiority of woman as a fact not to be ques¬ 
tioned. Aristotle, for instance, thought of her as occupy¬ 
ing a position intermediate between freemen and slaves. 
“ Both women and slaves may be good,” he said, 
“ though perhaps of them the one is less good and the 
other wholly bad.” But since the night the star pointed 
to Bethlehem’s manger, and the angel sang of the birth 
of a Saviour born of woman, the misconception that had 
for centuries degraded womanhood and motherhood has 
been exploded, and the mountain-peaked error forever 
doomed. To-day in every land, in proportion as Chris¬ 
tianity prevails, the appreciation and honor that is paid 
to woman everywhere increases and intensifies. And 
through the elevating effects of Christianity, woman’s 
noble and untold influence for good is everywhere felt, 
realized and properly appreciated. In the Church and 
Sabbath school, in women’s aid and missionary societies, 
in hospitals, moral, benevolent and philanthropic institu¬ 
tions, at the bedsides of the sick, in the homes of the 
poor and the needy, and wherever suffering humanity can 
be found, sympathizing woman can be met with; and she 
is conceded to be the finishing touch, the lily work of 
God’s creation. 

As the beautiful, budding flower unfolds its tints to the 
golden rays of the morning sun with kisses of love, con¬ 
tributing to the beauty and attractiveness of God’s vast 
creation, so the gentle, wooing, purifying influence of 


40 () CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 

noble woman is contributing to the advancement of 
Christianity, the elevation of man and the happiness of 
the world. 

The many agencies that are at work in the interests of 
Christianity have developed during this generation a 
greater missionary spirit than had ever been inspired 
during all of the preceding centuries. Through this mis¬ 
sionary spirit a greater number of Bibles have been printed 
and distributed, and more literature presenting the evi¬ 
dences of the divine origin of Christianity and the divinely 
attractive life of Christ, than in all the past ages. 

The press has accomplished more in advancing Chris¬ 
tianity during the last twenty-five years than during all of 
its previous existence. If the trend of Christian civiliza¬ 
tion can be relied upon, it is clear that the day is not far in 
advance when such papers as the New York Herald , 
World , Tribune , Sun, and other great dailies will become 
fearless agencies in advancing and pushing forward 
Christ’s teachings and kingdom. 

There is no event in the future history of Christianity 
that should be looked forward to with greater anticipation 
than the day when the secular press shall fully realize that 
it is a part of its great mission to energetically and sys¬ 
tematically advocate and press Christ’s claims and 
kingdom, as there is no secular agency more effectual 
in operating upon, molding and shaping the civilization 
of man than this instrumentality might become. 

In the history of the Christian Church, events, like the 
pendulum of the clock, have swung backward and forward, 
while the index upon the dial has recorded the progress. 



THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST 


( 407 ) 
































































































































•- 












































# 




















CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


409 


The horizon of the Christian world has widened, deepened 
and expanded. The character of Christ and His teachings 
has gradually grown in beauty and attractiveness, and 
Christianity is now appropriating every civilizing agency 
known to man in directly or indirectly advocating and 
advancing its claims. 

It is to-da}^ a conceded fact that such noted skeptics as 
Ingersoll, Adler and others are daily writing and proclaim¬ 
ing Christ’s teachings and the glad tidings of peace, love, 
and charity He came on earth to bring. The many elo¬ 
quent and lofty proclamations of man’s duty toward man 
that are being announced by these eminent skeptics were 
never heard of or taught prior to the appearance of the 
great Galilean teacher. Since His appearance no man has 
ever added anything to or improved upon the simplicity, 
sublimity and divine attractiveness of His teachings. 
These skeptics do not always give credit to this great 
instructor as the author of many of their beautiful theories 
and charming announcements, yet it is a fact that they are 
preaching Christ’s teachings of peace and love. 

Dr. Drummond contends that even the ethical forces of 
nature are at work hand in hand with Christianity as a 
mighty factor in this onward progress in evangelizing and 
Christianizing the world. He says : 

“Evolution is less a doctrine than a light; it is a light 
revealing in the chaos of the past a perfect and growing 
order, giving meaning even to the confusions of the 
present, discovering through all the deviousness around 
us the paths of progress, and flashing its rays already 
upon a common goal. 


410 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


“ Men begin to see an undeviating, ethical purpose in 
this material world, a tide that from eternity has never 
turned, making for perfectness. In that vast progression 
of nature, that vision of all things from the first of time, 
moving from low to high, from incompleteness to complete¬ 
ness, from imperfection to perfection, the moral nature 
recognizes in all its height and depth the eternal claim upon 
itself. Holiness, perfection, love,-—these have always 
been required of man. But never before on the natural 
plain have they been proclaimed by voices so commanding, 
or enforced by sanction so great and rational. 

“ Up to this point no word has been spoken to reconcile 
Christianity with evolution, or evolution with Christianity. 
And why? Because the two are one. What is evolution? 
A method of Christianity. What is the object? To make 
more perfect living beings. Through what does evolution 
work? Through love. Evolution and Christianity have 
the same author, the same end, the same spirit. There is no 
rivalry between the two processes. Only by shutting its 
eyes can science evade the discovery of the roots of Chris¬ 
tianity in every province that it enters. And when it does 
discover them, only by disfiguring words can it succeed in 
disowning the relationship. There is nothing unscientific 
in accepting that relationship ; there is much that is unscien¬ 
tific in dishonoring it.” 

The divinely attractive life, character and teachings of 
Jesus Christ and the leaven that has emanated from them 
have by their energizing force entered into and are mold¬ 
ing, shaping and directing every civilizing interest and 
movement of this progressive generation. The period is 


JOHN S VISION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































•• * 
































CHRIST THK PERFECT REALIZATION. 


413 


not far distant when Christianity shall have evangelized all 
of the nations and kingdoms of this world. The many 
mightily effective agencies and instrumentalities that it has 
created, utilized and appropriated cannot fail to ultimately 
achieve the glorious result promised. 

St. John, in his apocalyptic vision, saw the Christian 
Church triumphant in the full realization of the conquest 
of the world, and he beheld a new heaven and a new earth. 
Again he heard the voices of many angels, in number that 
no man could count, around the great white throne, singing 
with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, 
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature 
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be 
unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb 
forever and ever.” 

Again, in another vision this inspired prophet “ Beheld, 
and, lo ! a great multitude, which no man could number, of 
all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood 
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, 
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about 
the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, fell 
before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, say¬ 
ing, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks¬ 
giving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God 
forever and ever, Amen. And one of the elders answered, 


414 


CHRIST THE PERFECT REALIZATION. 


saying- unto me. What are these which are arrayed in white 
robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, 
thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which 
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, 
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. There¬ 
fore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day 



THE RIVER OF LIFE. 


and night in His Temple : and He that sitteth on the throne 
shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on 
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all 
tears from their eyes.” 





CHAPTER X. 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 

BY LORD GEORGE LYTTELTON. 


T IS stated by Rev. T. T. Biddolph, 
that Lord Lyttelton and his friend, 
Gilbert West, Esq., both men of 
acknowledged talents, had imbibed 
the principles of Infidelity from a 
superficial view of the Scriptures. 
They are believed to have been rela¬ 
tives, meeting often in the intimacy of life-long friendship, 
and were therefore brought to discuss principles of life and 
action, including religion, in such manner as to disclose to 
each other many of their inmost thoughts. Becoming fully 
persuaded in their debate that the Bible was an imposture, 
they were determined to expose the cheat. Lord Lyttelton 
chose the conversion of Paul, and Mr. West the resurrec¬ 
tion of Christ, for the subject of hostile criticism. Both 
sat down to their respective tasks full of prejudice ; but the 
result of their separate attempts was that they were both 
converted by their efforts to overthrow the truth of Chris¬ 
tianity. They came together, not as they expected, to 
exult over an imposture exposed to ridicule, but to lament 
over their own folly, and to felicitate each other on their 
joint conviction that the Bible was the word of God. Their 

( 415 ) 





416 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


able inquiries have furnished two of the most valuable 
treatises in favor of revelation, one entitled “ Observations 
on the Conversion of St. Paul,” and the other “Observa¬ 
tions on the Resurrection of Christ.” 

It is therefore deemed a valuable contribution to this dis¬ 
cussion, to here present Lord Lyttelton’s argument in 
full. Its succinct brevity, and the simplicity of his style, 
are much in its favor. It is regretted that the essay of 
Gilbert West is so much longer that it makes quite a large 
book in itself, and it therefore can not be reprinted in this 
volume. 

Lord George Lyttelton was the eldest son of Sir Thomas 
Lyttelton of Worcestershire, England, and was born in 
1709. In his youth he received the advantages of a supe¬ 
rior education, which was concluded by a tour of the conti¬ 
nent of Europe. That he made good use of his training is 
shown by a very active and industrious life. He was a 
polished and able writer on many subjects, the list of his 
contributions to political and polite literature, as well as on 
religious topics, being quite long. He was always promi¬ 
nent and active in political life. He was a personal friend 
of Pope, the poet. Entering Parliament as a young man, 
he became secretary to the Prince of Wales, who was 
afterwards George III. In 1744 he was one of the Lords 
of the Treasury. It was soon after that he wrote this 
essay, which has justly been regarded as his most notable 
literary achievement. His father, being then still alive, 
had the happiness to see it when it was printed in 1747. 
Samuel Johnson, the great critic, pronounced it “ a treatise 
to which infidelity has never been able to fabricate an 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


417 


answer.” His father expressed his pleasure in a letter 
overflowing with parental pride and love, as follows: — 

“ I have read your religious treatise with infinite pleasure 
and satisfaction. The style is fine and clear, the argument 
close, cogent, and irresistible. May the King of kings, 
whose glorious cause you have so well defended, reward 
your pious labors and grant that I may be found worthy, 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, to be an eye-witness of 
that happiness which I don’t doubt He will bountifully 
bestow upon you ! In the meantime, I shall never cease 
glorifying God for having endowed you with such useful 
talents and given me so good a son.” 

The degree of LL.D. was conferred by Oxford on his 
friend West for his essay, and the same honor was offered 
to Lord Lyttelton, but declined by him. He said that “ he 
chose not to be under any particular attachments, that, if 
he should happen to write anything of the like kind for the 
future, it might not appear to proceed from any other 
motive whatsoever but a pure desire of doing good.” 

Lord Lyttelton became Privy-Counsellor and Chancellor 
of the Exchequer. Perhaps his most noted literary achieve¬ 
ment, besides his essay on the “ Conversion of St. Paul,” 
was his history of Henry II. He lived to the age of over 
60 years. 


Conversion of St. Paul. 

Sir,— In a late conversation we had upon the subject of 
the Christian religion, I told you, that besides all the proofs 
of it which may be drawn from the prophecies of the Old 

23 



418 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


Testament, from the necessary connection it has with the 
whole system of the Jewish religion, from the miracles of 
Christ, and from the evidence given of His resurrection by 
all the other apostles, I thought the conversion and the 
apostleship of St. Paul alone, duly considered, was of 
itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be 
a Divine revelation. 

As you seemed to think that so compendious a proof 
might be of use to convince those unbelievers that will not 
attend to a longer series of arguments, I have thrown 
together the reasons upon which I support that proposition. 

In the 26th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, written 
by a cotemporary author, and a companion of St. Paul in 
preaching the Gospel (as appears by the book itself, chap. 
20:6, 13, 14, chap. 27:1, etc.) St. Paul is said to have 
given, himself, this account of his conversion and preach¬ 
ing, to king Agrippa and Festus the Roman governor: 
“ My manner of life from my youth, which was, at the 
first, among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the 
Jews, which knew me from the beginning (if they would 
testify), that after the straitest sect of our religion, I lived 
a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope 
of the promise made by God unto our fathers: unto which 
promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and 
night, hope to come ; for which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, 
I am accused by the Jews. Why should it be thought a 
thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? 
I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many 
things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which 
thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


419 


shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief 
priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice 
against them. And I punished them oft in every syna¬ 
gogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being 
exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even 
unto strange cities. Whereupon, as I went to Damascus 
with authority and commission from the chief priests, at 
mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, 
above the brightness of the sun shining round about me, 
and them which journeyed with me. And when we were 
all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, 
and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why perse- 
cutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks. And I said, who art Thou, Lord? And He said, I 
am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, stand upon 
thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, 
to make thee a minister, and a witness both of those things 
which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will 
appear unto thee ; delivering thee from the people and from 
the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee, to open their eyes, 
and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgive¬ 
ness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified 
by faith that is in Me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I 
was not disobedient to the heavenly vision : but showed 
first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and 
throughout all the coasts of Judea, and to the Gentiles, 
that they should repent and turn to God, and do works 
meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught 
ine in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having 


420 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, 
witnessing both to small and great, saying none other 
things than those which Moses and the prophets did say 
should come: That Christ should suffer, and that He should 
be the first that*should rise from the dead, and should 



PAUL BEFORE THE KING. 


show light to the people, and to the Gentiles. And as he 
thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, 
thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee 
mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but 
speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the 





































THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


421 


king knoweth, of these things, before whom also I speak 
freely • for I am persuaded that none of these things are 
hidden from him ; for this thing was not done in a corner. 
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know 
that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, 
almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul 
said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that 
hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as 
I am, except these bonds.” In another chapter of the 
same book, he gives in substance the same account to the 
Jews, adding these further particulars : “ And I said, what 
shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, arise and go 
into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things 
which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not 
see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of 
them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one 
Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a 
good report of all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto 
me, and stood, and said unto me, brother Saul, receive thy 
sight: and the same hour I looked upon him. And he 
said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou 
shouldst know His will, and see that just One, and shouldst 
hear the voice of His mouth. For thou shalt be His witness 
unto all men, of what thou hast seen and heard. And 
now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash 
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts, 
22 : 10 - 16 .) 

In the 9th chapter of the same book, the author of it 
relates the same story with some other circumstances, not 
mentioned in these accounts; as, that Saul in a vision saw 


422 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. FAUL. 


Ananias before he came to him, coming in, and putting his 
hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And that 
when Ananias had spoken to him, immediately there fell 
from his eyes as it had been scales. (Acts, 9:12, 18.) 

And agreeably to all these accounts, St. Paul thus speaks 
of himself in the epistles he wrote to the several churches 
he planted; the authenticity of which cannot be doubted 
without overturning all rules by which the authority 
and genuineness of any writings can be proved or con¬ 
firmed. 

To the Galatians he says: “ I certify you, brethren, that 
the Gospel which was preached by me is not after man. 
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, 
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard 
of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how 
that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and 
wasted it; and profited in the Jews’ religion above many 
of mine equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous of the tradition of my fathers. But when it 
pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, 
and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I 
might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I con¬ 
ferred not with flesh and blood,” etc. (Gal. 1:11-16.) 

To the Philippians he says: “ If any other man thinketh 
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the 
tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews. As touch¬ 
ing the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the 
Church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, 
blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. FAUL. 


423 


counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all 
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss 
of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win 
Christ.” (Phil. 3:4-8.) 

And in his epistle to Timothy he writes thus: “ I thank 
Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He 
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was 
before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but 
I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” 
(1 Tim. 1:12, 13.) 

In other epistles he calls himself “ an apostle by the will 
of God, by the commandment of God our Savior, and 
Lord Jesus Christ; and an apostle, not of men, neither by 
man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised 
Him from the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 
Gal. 1:1.) All which implies some miraculous call that 
made him an apostle. And to the Corinthians he says, 
after enumerating many appearances of Jesus after his 
resurrection, “ and last of all he was seen of me also, as of 
one born out of due time.” (1 Cor. 15:8.) 

Now, it must of necessity be, that the person attesting 
these things of himself, and of whom they are related in 
so authentic a manner, either was an impostor, who said 
what he knew to be false, with an intent to deceive; or he 
was an enthusiast, who, by the force of an overheated 
imagination, imposed on himself; or he was deceived by 
the fraud of others, and all that he said must be imputed 
to the power of that deceit; or what he declared to have 
been the cause of his conversion, and to have happened in 


424 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


consequence of it, did all really happen; and, therefore, 
the Christian religion is a Divine revelation. 


I. Paul not an Impostor. 

Now, that he was not an impostor, who said what he 
knew to be false, with an intent to deceive, I shall endeavor 
to prove, by showing that he could have no rational motives 
to undertake such an imposture, nor could have possibl} 7 
carried it on with any success by the means we know he 
employed. 

First, then, the inducement to such an imposture must 
have been one of these two: either the hope of advancing 
himself by it in his temporal interest, credit, or power; or 
the gratification of some of his imssions under the 
authority of it, and by the means it afforded. 

Now these were the circumstances in which St. Paul 
declared his conversion to the faith of Christ Jesus: that 
Jesus who called Himself the Messiah, and Son of God — 
notwithstanding the innocence and holiness of His life; 
notwithstanding the miracles by which He attested His mis¬ 
sion— had been crucified by the Jews as an impostor and 
blasphemer, which crucifixion not only must, humanly 
speaking, have intimidated others from following Him, or 
espousing His doctrines, but served to confirm the Jews in 
their opinion that He could not be their promised Messiah, 
who, according to all their prejudices, was not to suffer in 
any manner, but to reign triumphant for ever here upon 
earth. His apostles, indeed, though at first they appeared 
to be terrified by the death of their Master, and disap- 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL 


425 


pointed in all their hopes, yet had surprisingly recovered 
their spirits again, and publicly taught in His name, deelar- 



TIMOTHY LEARNING THE SCRIPTURES. 


ing Him to be risen from the grave, and confirming that 















































































































































426 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


miracle by many they worked, or pretended to work, them¬ 
selves. But their chief priests and rulers among the Jews 
were so far from being converted, either by their words or 
their works, that they had began a severe persecution 
against them, put some to death, imprisoned others, and 
were going on with implacable rage against the whole sect. 
In all these severities St. Paul concurred, being himself a 
Pharisee, “bred up at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts, 7:9, 
22, 23 ), one of the chief of that sect. Nor was he content, 
in the heat of zeal, with persecuting the Christians who 
were at Jerusalem, but “breathing out threatening and 
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went into the 
high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the 
synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they 
were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jeru¬ 
salem.” (Acts, 9: 1, 2.) His request was complied with, 
“ and he went to Damascus with authority and commission 
from the high priest.” (Acts, 2G : 12.) At this instant of 
time, and under these circumstances, did he become a 
disciple of Christ. What could be his motive to takq such 
a part? Was it the hope of increasing his wealth? The 
certain consequence of his taking that part was not only 
the loss of ali that he had, but of all the hopes of acquiring 
more. Those whom he left were the disposers of wealth, 
of dignity, of power, in Judea; those whom he went to, 
were indigent men, oppressed and kept down from all 
means of improving their fortunes. They, among them, 
who had more than the rest, shared what they had with 
their brethren ; but with their assistance the whole com¬ 
munity was hardly supplied with the necessaries of life. 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


427 


And even in churches he afterwards planted himself, which 
were much more wealthy than that of Jerusalem, so far was 
St. Paul from availing himself of their charity, or the 
veneration they had for him, in order to draw that wealth 
to himself, that he often refused to take any part of it for 
the necessaries of life. 

Thus he tells the Corinthians: “Even unto the present 
hour we both hunger and thirst; and are naked, and are 
buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labor, 
working with our own hands.” (1 Cor. 4:11.) 

In another epistle he writes to them : “ Behold the third 
time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burthen- 
some to you, for I seek not yours, but you ; for the children 
ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the 
children.” (2 Cor. 12:14.) 

To the Thessalonians he says: “As we were allowed of 
God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak 
not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 
For neither at any time used we flattering words, nor a 
cloak of covetousness ; God is witness; nor of men sought 
we glory, neither of you, nor ye of others, when we might 
have been burdensome, as to the apostles of Christ. For 
ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: for laboring 
night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of 
you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God.” And again 
in another letter to them he repeats the same testimony of 
his disinterestedness: “ Neither did w T e eat any man’s 

bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail day 
and night, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.” 
(2 Thess. 3: 8.) And when he took his farewell of the 


428 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


churches of Ephesus, to whom he foretold that they should 
see him no more, he gives this testimony of himself, and 
appeals to them for the truth of it: “ I have coveted no 
man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, you yourselves 
know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, 
and to them that were with me.” (Acts, 20: 33, 34.) It 
is then evident, both from the state of the Church, when 
St. Paul first came into it, and from his behavior after¬ 
wards, that he had no thoughts of increasing his wealth by 
becoming a Christian ; whereas, by continuing to be their 
enemy, he had almost certain hopes of making his fortune 
by the favor of those who were at the head of the Jewish 
State, to whom nothing could more recommend him 
than the zeal that he showed in that persecution. As 
to the credit or reputation, that too lay all on the side he 
forsook. The sect he embraced was under the greatest 
and most univeral contempt of any then in the world. The 
chiefs and leaders of it were men of the lowest birth, edu¬ 
cation, and rank. They had no one advantage of parts, or 
learning, or other human endowments to recommend them. 
The doctrines they taught were contrary to those which they 
who were accounted the wisest and most knowing of their 
nation professed. The wonderful works that they did were 
either imputed to magic or to imposture. The very Author 
and Head of their faith had been condemned as a criminal, 
and died on the cross between two thieves. Could the 
disciple of Gamaliel think he should gain any credit or 
reputation by becoming a teacher in a college of fishermen? 
Could he flatter himself that either in or out of Judea the 
doctrines he taught could do him any honor? No; he 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


429 


knew very well that the preaching Christ crucified “ was a 
stumbling-block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolish¬ 
ness.” (1 Cor. 1:23.) He afterwards found by experi¬ 
ence, that in all parts of the world, contempt was the 
portion of whoever engaged in preaching a mystery so un¬ 
palatable to the world to all its passions and pleasures, and 
so irreconcilable to the pride of human reason. “We are 
made [says he to the Corinthians] as the filth of the 
world, the off-scouring of all things unto this day.” 
(1 Cor. 4:13.) Yet he went on as zealously as he set 
out, and “ was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” 
Certainly, then, the desire of glory, the ambition of 
making to himself a great name , was not his motive to 
embrace Christianity. Was it then the love of power? 
Power! over whom? over a flock of sheep driven to the 
slaughter, whose Shepherd Himself had been murdered a 
little before! All that he could hope from that power 
was to be marked out in a peculiar manner for the 
same knife which he had seen so bloodily drawn against 
them. Could he expect more mercy from the chief priests 
and the rulers than they had shown to Jesus Himself? 
Would not their anger be probably fiercer against the 
deserter and betrayer of their cause, than against any other 
of the apostles? Was power over so mean and despised a 
set of men worth encountering so much danger? But still 
it may be said, there are some natures so fond of power 
that they will court it at any risk, and be pleased with it 
even over the meanest. Let us see then what power St. 
Paul assumed over the Christians. Did he pretend to any 
superiority over the other apostles? Yo j he declared 


430 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


himself “the least of them, and less than the least of 
all saints.” (Ephes. 3:8, 1 Cor. 15:9.) Even in the 
churches he planted himself, he never pretended to any 
primacy or power above the other apostles; nor would he 
be regarded any otherwise by them, than as the instrument 
to them of the grace of God, and preacher of the Gospel, 
not as the head of a sect. To the Corinthians he writes in 
these words: “Now this I say, that every one of you 
saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and 
I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for 
you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? ” (1 Cor. 

1 : 12, 17.) And in another place: “Who then is Paul, 
and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, 
even as the Lord gave to every man?” (1 Cor. 3:5.) 
“ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, 
and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 
4:5.) 

All the authority he exercised over them was purely of a 
spiritual nature, tending to their instruction and edification, 
without any mixture of that civil dominion in which alone 
an impostor can find his account. Such was the dominion 
acquired and exercised through the pretense of Divine 
inspiration, by many ancient legislators, by Minos, Rhada- 
manthus, Triptolemus, Lycurgus, ISTuma, Zaleucus, 
Zoroaster, Xamolxis ; nay, even by Pythagoras, who joined 
legislation to his philosophy, and, like the others, pretended 
to miracles and revelations from God, to give a more ven¬ 
erable sanction to the laws he prescribed. Such in latter 
times, was attained by Odin among the Goths, by Moham¬ 
med among the Arabians, by Mango Copac among the 



PAUL CONVEYED TO TIIE COUNCIL 


(431) 




























































































































THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


433 


Peruvians, by the Sofi family among the Persians, and that 
of the Xeriffs among the Moors. To such a dominion did 
also aspire the many false Messiahs among the Jews. In 
short, a spiritual authority was only desired as a foundation 
for temporal power, or as the support of it, by all these 
pretenders to Divine inspiration, and others whom history 
mentions in different ages and countries to have used the 
same arts. But St. Paul innovated nothing in government 
or civil affairs; he meddled not with legislation; he 
formed no commonwealths; he raised no seditions; he 
affected no temporal power. Obedience to their rules 
(Romans, 13) was the doctrine he taught to the churches 
he planted; and what he taught he practiced himself: nor 
did he use any of those soothing arts by which ambitious 
and cunning men recommend themselves to the favor of 
those whom they endeavor to subject to their power. 
Whatever was wrong in the disciples under his care he 
freely reproved, as it became a teacher from God, of which 
numberless instances are to be found in all his epistles. 
And he was as careful of them when he had left them, 
as while he resided among them, which an impostor would 
hardly have been, whose ends were centered all in himself. 
This is the manner in which he writes to the Philippians: 
“ Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not 
in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” 
(Phil. 2 :12.) And a little after he adds the cause why he 
interested himself so much in their conduct: “ That ye may 
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God in the midst 
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine 

24 


434 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


as lights ill the world, holding forth the word of life; that 
I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in 
vain, neither labored in vain. Yea, and if I be offered 
upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and 
rejoice with you all.” (Phil. 2: 15-17.) Are those the 
words of an impostor, desiring nothing but temporal 
power? No; they are evidently written by one who 
looked beyond the bounds of this life. But it may be 
said that he affected at least an absolute spiritual power 
over the churches he formed. I answer, he preached 
Christ Jesus , and not himself. Christ was the head , he 
only the minister / and for such only he gave himself to 
them. He called those who assisted him in preaching the 
Gospel, his fellow-laborers and fellow-servants. 

So far was he from taking any advantage of a higher 
education, superior learning, and more use of the world, to 
claim to himself any supremacy above the other apostles, 
that he made light of all these attainments, and declared 
“ that he came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, 
but determined to know nothing among” those he converted 
u save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” And the reason he 
gave for it was, “ that their faith should not stand in the 
wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2: 
1, 2-5.) Now this conduct put him quite on a level with 
the other apostles, who knew Jesus Christ as well as he, 
and had the power of God going along with their preach¬ 
ing in an equal degree of virtue and grace. But an im¬ 
postor, whose aim had been power, would have acted 
a contrary part; he would have availed himself of all 
those advantages, he would have extolled them as 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL 


435 


highly as possible, he would have set up himself by virtue 
of them as head of that sect to which he acceded, 
or at least of the proselytes made by himself. This is 
uo more than what was done by every philosopher who 
formed a school; much more was it natural in one who 
propagated a new religion. 

We see that the Bishops of Rome have claimed to 
themselves a primacy, or rather a monarchy over the 
whole Christian Church. If St. Paul had been actuated 
by the same lust of dominion, it was much easier for him 
to have succeeded in such an attempt. It was much 
easier to make himself head of a few poor mechanics 
and fishermen, whose superior he had always been in the 
eyes of the world, than for the Bishops of Rome to reduce 
those of Ravenna or Milan, and other great metropolitans, 
to their obedience. Besides the opposition they met with 
from such potent antagonists, they were obliged to support 
their pretensions in direct contradiction to those very Scrip¬ 
tures which they were forced to ground them upon, and 
to the indisputable practice of the whole Christian Church 
for many centuries. These were such difficulties as required 
the utmost abilities and skill to surmount. But the first 
preachers of the Gospel had easier means to corrupt a faith 
not yet fully known, and which in many places could only 
be known by what they severally published themselves. It 
was necessary, indeed, while they continued together, and 
taught the same people, that they should agree, otherwise 
the credit of their sect would have been overthrown; but 
when they separated, and formed different churches in 
distant countries, the same necessity no longer remained. 


436 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


It was in the power of St. Paul to model most of the 
churches he formed, so as to favor his own ambition; for 
he preached the Gospel in parts of the world where no 
other apostles had been, where Christ was not named till 
he brought the knowledge of Him, avoiding “to build upon 
another man’s foundation.” (Rom. 15:20.) Now had 
he been an impostor, would he have confined himself to 
just the same Gospel as was delivered by the other 
apostles, where he had such a latitude to preach what he 
pleased without contradiction? Would he not have twisted 
and warped the doctrines of Christ to his own ends, to the 
particular use and expediency of his own followers, and 
to the peculiar support and increase of his own power? 
That this was not done by St. Paul, or by any other of 
the apostles in so many various parts of the world as they 
traveled into, and in churches absolutely under their own 
direction; that the Gospel preached by them all should be 
one and the same, the doctrines agreeing in every par¬ 
ticular, without any one of them attributing more to him¬ 
self than he did to the others, or establishing anything* 
even in point of order or discipline different from the 
rest, or more advantageous to his own interest, credit or 
power, is a most strong and convincing proof of their not 
being impostors, but acting entirely by Divine inspiration. 

If any one imagines that he sees any difference between 
the doctrines of St. James and St. Paul concerning justi¬ 
fication by faith or by works, let him read Mr. Locke’s 
excellent comment upon the epistle of the latter; or let 
him only consider these words in the first epistle to the 
Corinthians (chap. 9: 27) : “ But I keep under my body, 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 437 

and bring it into subjection lest that by any means, when 
I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast 
away.” 

If St. Paul had believed or taught that faith without 
works was sufficient to save a disciple of Christ, to what 
purpose did he keep under his body, since his salvation was 
not to depend upon that being subject to the power of 



PAUL BEFORE THE COUNCIL. 


his reason, but merely upon the faith he professed? His 
faith was firm, and so strongly founded upon the most 
certain conviction, that he had no reason to doubt its 
continuance; how could he then think it possible, that 
while he retained that saving faith , he might nevertheless 
be a castaway? Or if he had supposed that his election 





















438 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


and calling was of such a nature, as that it irresistibly 
impelled him to good, and restrained him from evil, how 
could he express any fear, lest the lusts of his body should 
prevent his salvation? Can such an apprehension be 
made to agree with the notions of absolute predestination, 
ascribed by some to St. Paul? He could have no doubt 
that the grace of God had been given to him in the most 
extraordinary manner • yet we see that he thought his 
election was not so certain but that he might fall from it 
again through the natural prevalence of bodily appetites, 
if not duly restrained by his own voluntary care. This 
single passage is a full answer, out of the mouth of St. 
Paul himself, to all the mistakes that have been made of 
his meaning in some obscure expressions concerning grace, 
election, and justification. 

If, then, it appears that St. Paul had nothing to gain 
by taking this part, let us consider, on the other hand, 
WHAT HE GAVE UP and WHAT HE HAD KEASON TO EE AH. 
He gave up a fortune, which he was then in a fair way of 
advancing; he gave up that reputation which he had 
acquired by the labors and studies of his whole life, and 
by a behavior which had been blameless, “ touching the 
righteousness which is in the law.” (Phil. 3:6.) He 
gave up his friends, his relations, and family, from whom 
he estranged and banished himself for life; he gave up 
that religion “ which he had profited in, above many his 
equals in his own nation, and those traditions of his 
fathers, which he had been more exceedingly zealous of,” 
(Gal. 1:14.) How hard this sacrifice was to a man of his 
warm temper, and above all men, to a Jew, is worth con- 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


439 


sideration. That nation is known to have been more 
tenacious of their religious opinions than any other upon 
the face of the earth. The strictest and proudest sect 
among them was that of the Pharisees, under whose 
discipline St. Paul was bred. The departing, therefore, so 
suddenly from their favorite tenets, renouncing their pride, 
and from their disciple becoming their adversary, was a 
most difficult effort for one to make so nursed up in the 
esteem of them, and whose early prejudices were so 
strongly confirmed by all the power of habit, all the 
authority of example, and all the allurements of honor 
and interest. These were the sacrifices he had to make 
in becoming a Christian; let us now see what inconveni¬ 
ences he had to fear: the implacable vengeance of those 
he deserted; that sort of contempt which is hardest to 
bear, the contempt of those whose good opinion he had 
most eagerly sought, and all those other complicated evils 
which he describes in his second Epistle to the Corin¬ 
thians, chap. 11. Evils, the least of which were enough 
to have frighted any impostor even from the most hopeful 
and profitable cheat. But where the advantage proposed 
bears no proportion to the dangers incurred, or the mis¬ 
chiefs endured, he must be absolutely out of his senses 
who will either engage in an imposture, or, being engaged, 
persevere. 

Upon the whole, then, I think I have proved that the 
desire of wealth, or fame, or of power, could be no motive 
to make St. Paul a convert to Christ; but that, on the 
contrary, he must have been checked by that desire, as 
well as by the just apprehension of many inevitable and 


440 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


insupportable evils, from taking’ a part so contradictory to 
his past life, to all the principles he had imbibed, and all 
the habits he had contracted. 

It only remains to be inquired, whether the gratifica¬ 
tion of any other passion under the authority of that 
religion, or by the means it afforded, could be his induce¬ 
ment. That there have been some impostors, who have 
pretended to revelations from God, merely to give loose 
to irregular passions, and set themselves free from all 
restraints of government, law, or morality, both ancient 
and modern history shows. But the doctrine preached by 
St. Paul is absolutely contrary to all such designs. His 
writings * breathe nothing but the strictest morality, 
obedience to magistrates, order, and government, with the 
utmost abhorrence of all licentiousness, idleness, or loose 
behavior under the cloak of religion. We nowhere read 
in his works, that saints are above-moral ordinances; that 
dominion or property is founded in grace; that there is 
no difference in moral actions; that any impulses of the 
mind are to direct us against the light of our reason, and 
the laws of nature; or any of those wicked tenets, from 
which the peace of society has been disturbed, and the 
rules of morality have been broken by men pretending to 
act under the sanction of a divine revelation. Nor does 
any part of his life, either before or after his conversion 
to Christianity, bear any mark of a libertine disposition. 
As among the Jews, so among the Christians, his con¬ 
version and manners were blameless. Hear the appeal 


* See particularly Rom. 11 and 13, and Col. 3. 



THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


441 


that he makes to the Thessalonians upon his doctrine and 
behavior among them: “ Our exhortation was not of 

deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: ye are witnesses, 
and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably we 
behaved ourselves among you that believe.”f And to the 
Corinthians he says, 66 we have wronged no man, we have 
corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.” (2 Cor. 
7 :2. See also 1: 12, and 4:2.) 

It was not, then, the desire of gratifying any irregular 
passion, that could induce St. Paul to turn Christian, any 
more than the hope of advancing himself either in wealth, 
or reputation, or power. But still it is possible, some men 
may say (and I would leave no imaginable objection 
unanswered), that though St. Paul could have no selfish 
or interested view in undertaking such an imposture, yet, 
for the sake of its moral doctrines, he might be inclined to 
support the Christian faith, and make use of some pious 
frauds to advance a religion which, though erroneous and 
false in its theological tenets, and in the fact upon which 
it is grounded, was, in its precepts and influence, beneficial 
to mankind. 


t Thess. 2:10. If St. Paul had held any secret doctrines, or esoteric (as the 
philosophers called them), we should have probably found them in the letters he 
wrote to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, his bosom friends and disciples. But 
both the theological and moral doctrines are exactly the same in them, as those 
he wrote to the churches. A very strong presumptive proof of his being no 
impostor! Surely, had he been one, he would have given some hints in these 
private letters of the cheat they were carrying on, and some secret directions to 
turn it to some worldly purposes of one kind or another. But no such thing is 
to be found in any one of them. The same disinterested, holy, and divine spirit 
breathes in all these, as in the other more public epistles. 



442 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


Now, admit that some good men in the heathen world 
have both pretended to divine revelations, and introduced 
or supported religions they knew to be false, under a notion 
of public utility. But besides that, this practice was built 
upon maxims disclaimed by the Jews (who, looking upon 
truth, not utility, to be the basis of their religion, abhorred 
all such frauds, and thought them injurious to the honor of 
God), the circumstances they acted in were different from 
those of St. Paul. 

The first reformers of savage, uncivilized nations, had 
no other way to tame those barbarous people, and to bring 
them to submit to order and government, but by the rever¬ 
ence which they acquired from this pretense. The fraud 
was therefore alike beneficial both to the deceiver and the 
deceived. And in all other instances which can be given 
of good men acting this part, they not only did it to serve 
good ends, but were secure of its doing no harm. Thus, 
when Lycurgus persuaded the Spartans, or Numa the 
Romans, that the laws of the one were inspired by Apollo, 
or those of the other by Egeria; when they taught their 
people to put great faith in oracles, or in augury, no 
temporal mischief, either to them or their people, could 
attend the reception of that belief. It drew on no perse¬ 
cutions, no enmity with the world. But at that time, when 
St. Paul undertook the preaching of the Gospel, to per¬ 
suade any man to be a Christian, was to persuade him to 
expose himself to all the calamities human nature could 
suffer. This St. Paul knew; this he not only expected, 
but warned those he taught to look for it too. (1 Thess. 
3 : 4 ; 2 Cor. 6:4, 5 ; Eph. 6 : 10-16 ; Phil. 1 : 28-30.) The 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


443 


only support that he had himself, or gave to them, was: 
“ That if they suffered with Christ, they should be also 
glorified together .” And that “he reckoned that the 
sufferings of the present time were not worthy to be com¬ 
pared with that glory” (Rom. 8:17, 18.) So likewise 
he writes to the Thessalonians: “We ourselves glory in 
you, in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in 
all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure; which 
is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that 
ye may be counted' worthy of the kingdom of God, for 
which also ye suffer . Seeing it is a righteous thing with 
God to recompense (or repay) tribulation to them that 
trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us. 
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels ,” etc. (2 Thess. 1:4-7.) And to the 
Corinthians he says: “ If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” How much 
reason he had to say this, the hatred, the contempt, the 
torments, the deaths endured by the Christians in that age, 
and long afterwards/ abundantly prove. Whoever pro¬ 
fessed the Gospel under these circumstances, without an 
entire conviction of its being a divine revelation, must have 
been mad; and if he made others profess it by fraud or 
deceit, he must have been worse than mad; he must have 
been the most hardened villain that ever breathed. Could 
any man, who had in his nature the least spark of humanity, 
subject his fellow-creatures to so many miseries; or could 
one that had in his mind the least ray of reason, expose 
himself to share them with those he deceived, in order to 
advance a religion which he knew to be false, merely for 


444 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


the sake of its moral doctrines? Such an extravagance is 
too absurd to be supposed; and I dwell too long on a 
notion that, upon a little reflection, confutes itself. 

I would only add to the other proofs I have given, that 
St. Paul could have no rational motive to become a disciple 
of Christ unless he sincerely believed in Him, this observa¬ 
tion : that whereas it may be objected to the other apostles, 
by those who are resolved not to credit their testimony, 
that having been deeply engaged with Jesus during His 
life, they were obliged to continue the same professions 
after His death, for the support of their own credit , and 
from having gone too far to go back: this can by no means 
be said of St. Paul. On the contrary, whatever force 
there may be in that way of reasoning, it all tends to 
convince us that St. Paul must have naturally continued 
a Jew, and an enemy of Christ Jesus. If they were 
engaged on one side, he was as strongly engaged on the 
other 5 if shame withheld them from changing sides, much 
more ought it to have stopped him, who being of a higher 
education and rank in life a great deal than they, had more 
credit to lose, and must be supposed to have been vastly 
more sensible to that sort of shame. The only difference 
was, that they, by quitting their Master after His death, 
might have preserved themselves; whereas he, by quitting 
the Jews, and taking up the cross of Christ, certainly 
brought on his own destruction. 

As, therefore, no rational motive appears for St. Paul’s 
embracing the faith of Christ, without having been really 
convinced of the truth of it; but, on the contrary, every 
thing concurred to deter him from acting that part; one 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


445 


might very justly conclude, that when a man of his under¬ 
standing embraced that faith, he was in reality convinced 
of the truth of it; and that, by consequence, he was not 
an impostor, who said what he knew to be false with an 
intent to deceive. 

But that no shadow of doubt may remain upon the 
impossibility of his having been such an impostor; that it 
may not be said: “The minds of men are sometimes so 
capricious that they will act without any rational motives, 
they know not why, and so perhaps might St. Paul: ” I 
shall next endeavor to prove, that if he had been so unac¬ 
countably wild and absurd as to undertake an imposture 
so unprofitable and dangerous both to himself and those he 
deceived by it, he could not possibly have carried it 
on with any success by the means that we know he 
employed. 

First, then, let me observe, that if his conversion, and 
the part that he acted in consequence of it, was an impost¬ 
ure, it was such an imposture as could not be carried on by 
one man alone . The faith he professed, and which he 
became an apostle of, was not his invention. He was not 
the author or beginner of it, and therefore it was not in 
his power to draw the doctrines of it out of his own 
imagination. With Jesus, who was the Author and Head 
of it, he had never had any communication before His 
death, nor with His. apostles after His death, except as 
their persecutor. As he took on himself the office and 
character of an apostle, it was absolutely necessary for him 
to have a precise and perfect knowledge of all the facts 
contained in the Gospel, several of which had only passed 


446 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. FAUL. 


between Jesus Himself and His twelve apostles, and others 
more privately still, so that they could be known but to 
very few, being not yet made public by any writings; 
otherwise he would have exposed himself to ridicule among 
those who preached that Gospel with more knowledge than 
he; and as the testimony they bore would have been dif¬ 
ferent in point of fact, and many of their doctrines and 
interpretations of Scripture repugnant to his, from their 
entire disagreement with those Jewish opinions in which he 
was bred up; either they must have been forced to ruin his 
credit, or he woidd have ruined theirs. Some general 
notices he might have gained of these matters from the 
Christians he persecuted, but not exact or extensive enough 
to qualify him for an apostle, whom the least error, in these 
points, would have disgraced, and who must have been 
ruined by it in all his pretensions to that inspiration from 
whence the apostolical authority was chiefly derived. 

It was, therefore, impossible for him to act this part but 
in confederacy, at least, with the apostles. Such a con¬ 
federacy was still more necessary for him, as the undertak¬ 
ing to preach the Gospel did not only require an exact and 
particular knowledge of all it contained, but an apparent 
power of working miracles; for to such a power all the 
apostles appealed in proof of their mission, and of the doc¬ 
trines they preached. He was, therefore, to learn of them 
by what secret arts they so imposed on the senses of men, 
if this power was a cheat. But how could he gain these 
men to become his confederates? Was it by furiously 
persecuting them and their brethren, as we find that he 
did, to the very moment of his conversion? Would they 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


447 


venture to trust their capital enemy with all the secrets of 
their imposture, with those upon which all their hopes and 
credit depended? Would they put it in his power to take 
away not only their lives, but the honor of their sect, which 
they preferred to their lives, by so ill-placed a confidence? 
Would men, so secret as not to be drawn by the most 
severe persecutions to say one word which could convict 
them of being impostors, confess themselves such to their 
persecutor, in hopes of his being their accomplice? This 
is still more impossible than that he should attempt to 
engage in their fraud without their consent and assistance. 

We must suppose, then, that, till he came to Damascus, 
he had no communication with the apostles, acted in no 
concert with them, and learnt nothing from them except 
the doctrines which they had publicly taught to all the 
world. When he came there he told the Jews, to whom 
he brought letters from the high priest and the synagogue 
against the Christians, of his having seen in the way a 
great light from heaven, and heard Jesus Christ reproach¬ 
ing him with his persecution, and commanding him to go 
into the city, where it should be told him what he was to 
do. But to account for his choosing this method of 
declaring himself a convert to Christ, we must suppose, 
that all those who were with him, when he pretended he 
had this vision, were his accomplices, otherwise the story 
he told could have gained no belief, being contradicted by 
them whose testimony was necessary to vouch for the 
truth of it. And yet how can we suppose that all these 
men should be willing to join in this imposture? They 
were, probably, officers of justice, or soldiers, who had 


448 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


been employed often before in executing the orders of the 
high priest and the rulers against the Christians. Or, if 
they were chosen particularly for this expedition, they 
must have been chosen by them as men they could trust 
for their zeal in that cause. What should induce them to 
the betraying of that business they were employed in? 
Does it even appear that they had any connection with the 
man they had so lied for, before or after this time, or any 
reward from him for it? This is, therefore, a difficulty in 
the first outset of this imposture not to be overcome. 

But, farther, he was to be instructed by one at Damas¬ 
cus. That instructor, therefore, must have been his ac¬ 
complice, though they appeared to be absolute strangers to 
one another; and though he was a man of an excellent 
character, “ who had a good report of all the Jews that 
dwelt at Damascus,” and so was very unlikely to have en¬ 
gaged in such an imposture. Notwithstanding these im¬ 
probabilities, this man, I say, must have been his confidant 
and accomplice in carrying on this fraud, and the whole 
matter must have been previously agreed on between them. 
But, here again the same objection occurs: how could this 
man venture to act such a dangerous part, without the con¬ 
sent of the other disciples, especially of the apostles, or 
by what means could he obtain their consent? And how 
absurdly did they contrive their business, to make the con¬ 
version. of Saul the effect of a miracle, which all those 
who were with him must certify did never happen! How 
much easier would it have been to have made him be pres¬ 
ent at some pretended miracle wrought by the disciples, 
or by Ananias himself, when none were able to discover 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


449 


the fraud, and have imputed his conversion to that, or to 
the arguments used by some of his prisoners whom he 
might have discoursed with, and questioned about their 
faith, and the grounds of it, in order to color his intended 
conversion! 

As this was the safest, so it was the most natural method 
of bringing about such a change, instead of ascribing it 
to an event which lay so open to detection. For, to use 
the words of St. Paul to Agrippa, “ this thing was not 
done in a corner ” (Acts 26), but in the eye of the world, 
and subject immediately to the examination of those who 
would be most strict in seaching into the truth of it, the 
Jews at Damascus. Had they been able to bring any 
shadow of proof to convict him of fraud in this affair, his 
whole scheme of imposture must have been nipped in the bud. 
[Nor were they, at Jerusalem, whose commission he bore, 
less concerned to discover so provoking a cheat. But we 
find that, many years afterwards, when they had all the 
time and means they could desire to make the strictest in¬ 
quiry, he was bold enough to appeal to Agrippa, in the 
presence of Festus (Acts, 26), upon his knowledge of the 
truth of his story; who did not contradict him, though he 
had certainly heard all that the Jews could allege against 
the credit of it in any particular — a very remarkable proof, 
both of the notoriety of the fact, and the integrity of the 
man, who, with so fearless a confidence, could call upon a 
king to give testimony for him, even while he was sitting 
in judgment upon him. 

But to return to Ananias. Is it not strange, if this 
story had been an imposture, and he had been joined 

25 


450 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


with Paul iii carrying- it on, that, after their meeting at 
Damascus, we never should hear of their consorting to¬ 
gether, or acting in concert; or that the former drew any 
benefit from the friendship of the latter, when he became 
so considerable among the Christians? Did Ananias en¬ 
gage and continue in such a dangerous fraud without any 



ANANIAS MINISTERS TO PAUL. 


hopes or desire or private advantage ? Or was it safe for 
Paul to shake him off, and risk his resentment? There 
is, I think, no other way to get over this difficulty but by 
supposing that Ananias happened to die soon after the 
other’s conversion. Let us, then, take that for granted, 
without any authority either of history or tradition, and let 
us see in what manner this wondrous imposture was carried 


















THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


451 


on by Paul himself. His first care ought to have been to 
get himself owned and received as an apostle by the 
apostles. Till this was done, the bottom he stood upon 
was very narrow, nor could he have any probable means 
of supporting himself in any esteem or credit among the 
disciples. Intruders into impostures run double risks; 
they are in danger of being detected, not only by those 
upon whom they attempt to practice their cheats, but also 
by those whose society they force themselves into, who 
must always be jealous of such intrusion, and much more 
from one who had always before behaved as their enemy. 
Therefore, to gain the apostles, and bring them to admit 
him into a participation of all their mysteries, all their 
designs, and all their authority, was absolutely necessary 
at this time to Paul. The least delay was of dangerous 
consequence, and might expose him to such inconve¬ 
niences as he never afterwards could overcome. But, 
instead of attending to this necessity, he went into Arabia, 
and then returned again to Damascus; nor did he go to 
Jerusalem till three years were past. (Gal. 1: 17, 18.) 

Now, this conduct may be accounted for, if it be true 
that (as he declares in his Epistle to the Galatians) “ he 
neither received the Gospel of any man, neither was he 
taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1:12. 
Under such a Master, and with the assistance of His 
divine power, he might go on boldly without any human 
associates; but an impostor so left to himself, so deprived 
of all help, all support, all recommendation, could not have 
succeeded. 

Further: We find that, at Antioch, he was not afraid 


452 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


“ to withstand Peter to his face, and even to reprove him 
before all the disciples because he was to be blamed.” 
(Gal. 2:11-14.) If he was an impostor how could he 
venture to so offend that apostle, whom it so highly con¬ 
cerned him to agree with and please? Accomplices in a 
fraud are obliged to show greater regard to each other; 
such freedom belongs to truth alone. 

But let us consider what difficulties he had to 
encounter among the Gentiles themselves, in the 
enterprise he undertook of going to them, making him¬ 
self their apostle, and converting them to the religion of 
Christ. As this undertaking was the distinguishing part 
of his apostolical functions, that which, in the language of 
his epistles, he was particularly called to, or which, to 
speak like an unbeliever, he chose and assigned to him¬ 
self; it deserves a particular consideration. But I shall 
only touch the principal points of it as concisely as I can, 
because you have in a great measure exhausted the subject 
in your late excellent book on the resurrection, where you 
discourse with such strength of reason and eloquence upon 
the difficulties that opposed the propagation of the Chris¬ 
tian religion in all parts of the world. 

Now, in this enterprise St. Paul was to contend: 1. 
With the policy and power of the magistrate. 2. With 
the interest, credit, and craft of the priests. 3. With the 
prejudice and passions of the people. 4. With the wisdom 
and pride of the philosophers. 

That in all heathen countries the established religion 
was interwoven with their civil constitution, and supported 
by the magistrate as an essential part of the government, 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


453 


whoever has any acquaintance with antiquity cannot but 
know. They tolerated, indeed, many different worships 
(though not with so entire a latitude as some people sup¬ 
pose), as they suffered men to discourse very freely con¬ 
cerning religion, provided they would submit to an exterior 
conformity with established rites; nay, according tcfthe 
genius of paganism, which allowed an intercommunity of 
worship, they in most places admitted, without any great 
difficulty, new gods and new rites; but they nowhere 
endured any attempt to overturn the established religion, 
or any direct opposition made to it, esteeming that an 
unpardonable offense, not to the gods alone, but to the 
state. This was so universal a notion, and so constant a 
maxim of heathen policy, that when the Christian religion 
set itself up in opposition to all other religions, admitted 
no intercommunity with them, but declared that the gods 
of the Gentiles were not to be worshiped , nor any society 
suffered between them and the only true God; when this 
new doctrine began to be propagated, and made such pro¬ 
gress as to fall under the notice of the magistrate, the civil 
power was everywhere armed with all its terrors against it. 
When, therefore, St. Paul undertook the conversion of the 
Gentiles, he knew very well that the most severe perse¬ 
cutions must be the consequence of any success in his 
design. 

2. This danger was rendered more certain by the oppo¬ 
sition he was to expect from the interest , credit and craft 
of the priests . How gainful a trade they, with all their 
inferior dependents, made of those superstitions which he 
proposed to destroy; how much credit they had with the 


454 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


people, as well as the state by means of them; and how 
much craft they employed in carrying on their impostures, 
all history shows. St. Paul could not doubt that all these 
men would exert their utmost abilities to stop the spread¬ 
ing of the doctrines he preached — doctrines which struck 
at the root of their power and gain, and were much more 
terrible to them than those of the most atheistical sect of 
philosophers; because the latter contented themselves with 
denying their principles, but at the same time declared for 
supporting their practices, as useful cheats, or at least 
acquiesced in them as establishments authorized by the 
sanction of the law. Whatever, therefore, their cunning 
could do to support their own worship, whatever aid they 
could draw from the magistrate, whatever zeal they could 
raise in the people, St. Paul was to contend with, unsup¬ 
ported by any human assistance. And 

3. This he was to do in direct opposition to all the 
prejudices and passions of the people. 

Now, had he confined his preaching to Judea alone, this 
difficulty would not have occurred in near so great a 
degree. The people were there so moved with the mira¬ 
cles the apostles had wrought, as well as by the memory 
of those done by Jesus, that, in spite of their rulers, they 
began to be favorably disposed towards them; and we 
even find that the high-priest, and the council had more 
than once been withheld from treating the apostles with 
so much severity as they desired to do, “ for fear of the 
people.” (Acts, 4:21 and 5:26.) But in the people 
among the Gentiles no such dispositions could be ex¬ 
pected : their prejudices were violent, not only in favor 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


455 


of their own superstitions, but in a particular manner 
against any doctrines taught by a Jew. As for their 
aversion to all idolatry, and irreconcilable separation from 
all other religions, the Jews were accused of hating man¬ 
kind, so were they hated by all other nations; nor were 
they hated alone but despised. To what a degree that 
contempt was carried, appears as well by the mention 
made of them in heathen authors, as by the complaints 
Josephus makes of the unreasonableness and injustice of 
it in his apology. What authority then could St. Paul 
flatter himself that his preaching would carry along with it, 
among people to whom he was at once both the object of 
national hatred, and national scorn? But besides this pop¬ 
ular prejudice against a Jew, the doctrines he taught were 
such as shocked all their most ingrafted religious opinions. 
They agreed to no principles of which he could avail him¬ 
self to procure their assent to the other parts of the 
Gospel he preached. To convert the Jews to Christ 
Jesus he was able to argue from their own Scriptures, 
upon the authority of books which they owned to con¬ 
tain divine revelations, and from which he could clearly 
convince them that Jesus was “ the very Christ.” (Acts, 
9 : 22.) But all these ideas were new to the Gentiles ; they 
expected no Christ; they allowed no such Scriptures, they 
were to be taught the Old Testament as well as the New. 
How was this to be done by a man not even authorized by 
his own nation; opposed by those who were greatest, and 
thought wisest, among them; either quite single, or only 
attended by one or two more under the same disadvantages, 
and even of less consideration than he? 


456 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. HAUL. 


The light of nature, indeed, without express revelations, 
might have conducted the Gentiles to the knowledge of 
one God, the Creator of all things; and to that light St. 
Paul might appeal, as we find that he did (Acts 14 : 17 : 17 : 
27, 28). But clear as it was they had almost put it out by 
their superstitions, “ having changed the glory of the in¬ 
corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping 
things, and serving the creature more than the Creator.” 
(Pom. 1: 23, 25.) And to this idolatry they were strongly 
attached, not by their prejudices alone, but by their pas¬ 
sions, which were flattered and gratified in it, as they 
believed that their deities would be rendered propitious, not 
by virtue and holiness, but by offerings, and incense, and 
outward rites; rites which dazzled their senses by magnifi¬ 
cent shows, and allured them by pleasures, often of a very 
impure and immoral nature. Instead of all this, the 
Gospel proposed to them no other terms of acceptance with 
God but a worship of Him in spirit and in truth , sincere 
repentance, and perfect submission to the Divine laws, the 
strictest purity of life and manners, and the renouncing of 
all those lusts in which they had formerly walked. How 
unpalatable a doctrine was this to men so given up to the 
power of those lusts, as the whole heathen world was at 
that time ! If their philosophers could be brought to ap¬ 
prove it, there could be no hope that the people would 
relish it, or exchange the ease and indulgence which those 
religions in which they were bred allowed to their appetites, 
for one so harsh and severe. But might not St. Paul, in 
order to gain them, relax that severity? He might have 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


457 


done so, no doubt, and probably would, if he had been an 
impostor; but it appears by all his epistles, that he preached 
it as purely, and enjoined it as strongly as Jesus himself. 

But supposing they might be persuaded to quit their 
habitual sensuality for the purity of the Gospel, and to for¬ 
sake their idolatries, which St. Paul reckons amongst the 
works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19, 20), for spiritual worship 
of the one invisible God , how were they disposed to receive 
the doctrine of the salvation of man by the cross of Jesus 
Christ? Could they who were bred in notions so contrary 
to that great mystery , to that “ hidden wisdom of God, 
which none of the princes of this world knew” (1 Cor. 
2: 7, 8,) incline to receive it against the instructions of 
all their teachers, and the example of all their superiors? 
Could they, whose gods had almost all been powerful kings, 
and mighty conquerors — they, who at that very time paid 
Divine honors to the emperors of Pome, whose only title 
to deification was the imperial power—could they, I say, 
reconcile their ideas to a crucified Son of God , to a Re¬ 
deemer of mankind on the cross? Would they look there 
for Him “ who is the image of the invisible God, the first¬ 
born of every creature; by whom and for whom were all 
things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, 
or powers?” (Col. 1:15, 16.) No, most surely the 
“ natural man (to speak in the words of St. Paul—1 Cor. 
2: 14) received not these things, for they are foolishness 
to him; neither could he know them, because they are 
spiritually discerned.” I may therefore conclude, that in 
the enterprise of converting the Gentiles, St. Paul was 


458 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


to contend not only with the policy and power of the 
magistrates, and with the interest, credit, and craft of the 
priests, but also with the prejudices and passions of the 
people. 

4. I am next to show that he was to expect no less oppo- 
position from the wisdom and pride of the philosophers . 
And though some may imagine, that men who pretended to 
be raised and refined above vulgar prejudices and vulgar 
passions, would have been helpful to him in his design, it 
will be found upon examination, that instead of assisting or 
befriending the Gospel, they were its worst and most 
irreconcilable enemies. For they had prejudices of their 
own still more repugnant to the doctrines of Christ than 
those of the vulgar, more deeply rooted, and more obsti¬ 
nately fixed in their minds. The wisdom upon which they 
valued themselves chiefly consisted in vain metaphysical 
speculations, in logical subtleties, in endless disputes, in 
high-flown conceits of the perfection and self-sufficiency of 
human wisdom, in dogmatical positiveness about doubtful 
opinions, or skeptical doubts about the most clear and cer¬ 
tain truths. It must appear at first sight, that nothing 
could be more contradictory to the first principles of the 
Christian religion than those of the atheistical, or skeptical 
sects, which at that time prevailed very much both among the 
Greeks and the Romans; nor shall we find that the theis- 
tical were much less at enmity with it, when we consider 
the doctrines they held upon the nature of God and the 
soul. 

But I will not enlarge on a subject which the most learned 
Mr. Warburton handled so well. (Div. Leg. 1:3.) If it 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


459 


were necessary to enter particularly into this argument, I 
could easily prove that there was not one of all the differ¬ 
ent philosophical sects then upon earth, not even the Pla¬ 
tonics themselves, who are thought to favor it most, that 
did not maintain some opinions fundamentally contrary to 
those of the Gospel. And in this they all agreed, to 
explode as most unphilosophical, and contrary to every 
notion that any among them maintained, that great article 
of the Christian religion, upon which the foundations of it 
are laid, and without which St. Paul declares to his prose¬ 
lytes, “ their faith would be vain ” (1 Cor. 15: 17, 20) ; 
the resurrection of the dead with their bodies, of which 
resurrection Christ was the first-born (Col. 1 : 18). 
Besides the contrariety of their tenets to those of the 
Gospel, the pride that was common to all the philosophers, 
was of itself an almost invincible obstacle against the 
admission of the evangelical doctrines calculated to humble 
that pride, and teach them, that “ professing themselves to 
be wise, they became fools.” (Rom. 1:22.) This pride 
was no less intractable, no less averse to the instructions 
of Christ, or of his apostles, than that of the Scribes and 
Pharisees. St. Paul was therefore to contend, in his 
enterprise of converting the Gentiles, with all the oppo¬ 
sition that could be made to it by all the different sects of 
philosophers. And how formidable an opposition this was, 
let those consider who are acquainted from history with 
the great credit those sects had obtained at that time in 
the world; a credit even superior to that of the priests. 
Whoever pretended to learning or virtue was their disciple ; 
the greatest magistrates, generals, kings, ranged them- 


460 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


selves under their discipline, were trained up in their 
schools, and professed the opinions they taught. 

All these sects made it a maxim not to disturb the 
popular worship, or established religion ; but under those 
limitations they taught very freely whatever they pleased; 
and no religious opinions were more warmly supported 
than those they delivered were by their followers. The 
Christian religion at once overturned their several systems, 
taught*a morality more perfect than theirs, and established 
it upon higher and much stronger foundations; mortified 
their pride, confounded their learning, discovered their 
ignorance, ruined their credit. Against such an enemy, 
what would they not do? Would not they exert the 
whole power of their rhetoric, the whole art of their logic, 
their influence over the people, their interest with the 
great, to discredit a novelty so alarming to them all? If 
St. Paul had had nothing to trust to but his own natural 
faculties, his own understanding, knowledge, and eloquence 
could he have hoped to be singly a match for all theirs 
united against him? Could a teacher unheard of before, 
from an obscure and unlearned part of the world, have 
withstood the authority of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, 
Zeno, Arcefilaus, Carneades, and all the great names 
which held the first rank of human wisdom? He might as 
well have attempted alone, or with the help of Barnabas, 
and Silas, and Timotheus, and Titus, to have erected a 
monarchy upon the ruins of all the several states then 
in the world, as to have erected Christianity upon 
the destruction of all the several sects of philosophy 
which reigned in the minds of the Gentiles, among 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


461 


whom he preached, particularly the Greeks and the 
Romans. 

Having thus proved, as I think, that in the work of con¬ 
verting the Gentiles, St. Paul could have no assistance; 
but was sure, on the contrary, of the utmost repugnance 
and opposition to it imaginable from the magistrates, from 
the priests, from the people, and from the philosophers; 
it necessarily follows, that to succeed in that work, he 
must have called in some extraordinary aid, some stronger 
power than that of reason and argument. Accordingly, 
we find, he tells the Corinthians, “ that his speech and 
preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, 
but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.” (1 Cor. 
2:4.) And to the Thessalonians he says: “Our Gospel 
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in 
the Holy Ghost.” (1 Thess. 1: 5.) It was to the effi¬ 
cacy of the divine power that he ascribed all his success in 
those countries, and wherever else he planted the Gospel 
of Christ. If that power really went with him, it would 
enable him to overcome all those difficulties that obstructed 
his enterprise; but then he was not an impostor. 

Our inquiry, therefore, must be, whether (supposing 
him to have been an impostor) he could, by pretending 
to miracles, have overcome all those difficulties, and 
carried on his work with success? How, to give miracles, 
falsely pretended to, any reputation, two circumstances 
are principally necessary — an apt disposition in those 
whom they are designed to impose upon, and & powerful 
confederacy to carry on and abet the cheat. Both these 
circumstances, or at least one of them, have always accora- 


462 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


panied all the false miracles, ancient and modern, which 
have obtained any credit among mankind. To both these 
was owing the general faith of the heathen world in 
oracles, auspices, auguries, and other impostures, by which 
the priests, combined with the magistrates, supported the 
national worship and deluded a people prepossessed in 
their favor, and willing to be deceived. Both the same 
causes likewise co-operate in the belief that is given to 
Popish miracles among those of their own Church. But 
neither of these assisted St. Paul. What prepossession 
could there have been in the minds of the Gentiles, either 
in favor of him or the doctrines he taught? Or, rather, 
what prepossessions could be stronger than those which 
they, undoubtedly, had against both? If he had remained 
in Judea, it might have been suggested by unbelievers, 
that the Jews were a credulous people, apt to seek after 
miracles, and to afford them an easy belief; and that the 
fame of those said to be done by Jesus himself, and by 
his apostles, before Paul declared his conversion, had pre¬ 
disposed their minds, and warmed their imaginations, to 
the admission of others supposed to be wrought by the 
same power. 

The signal miracle of the apostles speaking with tongues 
on the day of Pentecost, had made three thousand con¬ 
verts; that of healing the lame man at the gate of the 
temple, five thousand more (Acts 2: 41; 4: 4). Nay, 
such was the faith of the multitude, that they brought 
forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and 
couches, “ that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by 
might overshadow some of them.” (Acts, 5:15.) Here 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


463 


was, therefore, a good foundation laid for Paul to proceed 
upon in pretending to similar miraculous works; though 
the priests and the rulers were hardened against them, the 
people were inclined to give credit to them, and there was 



PAUL AND BARNABAS AT LYSTRA. 


reason to hope for success among them both at Jerusalem 
and in all the regions belonging to the Jews. But no such 
dispositions were to be found in the Gentiles. There was 
among them no matter prepared for imposture to work 
upon, no knowledge of Christ, no thought of His power, or 



























464 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


of the power of those who came in His name. Thus, when 
at Lystra, St. Paul healed the man who was a cripple from 
his birth (Acts 14), so far were the people there from sup¬ 
posing 1 that he could be able to do such a thing, as an 
apostle of Christ, or by any virtue derived from Him, 
that they took Paul and Barnabas to be gods of their own, 
come down in the likeness of men , and would have sac¬ 
rificed to them as such. 

Now, I ask, did the citizens of Lystra concur in this 
matter to the deceiving of themselves? Were their imag¬ 
inations overheated with any conceits of a miraculous 
power belonging to Paul, which could dispose them to 
think he worked such a miracle when he did not? As the 
contrary is evident, so in all other places to which he 
carried the Gospel, it may be proved to demonstration, 
that he could find no disposition, no aptness, no bias to aid 
his imposture, if the miracles, by which he everywhere 
confirmed his preaching, had not been true. 

On the other hand, let us examine whether, without the 
advantage of such an assistance, there was any confederacy 
strong enough to impose his false miracles upon the Gen¬ 
tiles, who were both unprepared and undisposed to receive 
them. The contrary is apparent. He was in no combination 
with their priests or their magistrates; no sect or party 
among them gave him any help; all eyes were open and 
watchful to detect his impostures; all hands ready to pun¬ 
ish him as soon as detected. Had he remained in Judea, 
he would, at least, have had many confederates, all the 
apostles, all the disciples of Christ, at that time pretty 
numerous; but in preaching to the Gentiles, he was often 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


465 


alone, rarely with more than two or three companions, or 
followers. Was this a confederacy powerful enough to 
carry on such a cheat, in so many different parts of the 
world, against the united opposition of the magistrates, 
priests, philosophers, people, all combined to detect and 
expose their frauds? 

Let it be also considered, that those upon whom they 
practiced these arts were not a gross or ignorant people, 
apt to mistake any uncommon operations of nature, or 
juggling tricks, for miraculous acts. The churches planted 
by St. Paul were in the most enlightened parts of the 
world ; among the Greeks of Asia and Europe, among the 
Romans, in the midst of science, philosophy, freedom of 
thought, and in an age more inquisitively curious into the 
powers of nature, and less inclined to credit religious frauds 
than any before it. Nor were they only the lowest of the 
people that he converted. Sergius Paulus, the pro-consul 
of Paphos; Erastus, chamberlain of Corinth; and Diony¬ 
sius, the Areopagite, were his proselytes. 

Upon the whole, it appears beyond contradiction, that 
his pretension to miracles was not assisted by the disposi¬ 
tion of those whom he designed to convert by those means, 
nor by any powerful confederacy to carry on, and abet the 
cheat, without both which concurring circumstances, or one 
at least, no such pretension was ever supported with any 
success. 

Both these circumstances concurred even in the late 
famous miracles supposed to be done at Abbe Paris’s tomb. 
They had not indeed the support of the government, and 
for that reason appear to deserve more attention than 


466 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


other Popish miracles; bat they were supported by all the 
Jansenists, a very powerful and numerous party in France, 
made up partly of wise and able men, partly of bigots and 
enthusiasts. All these confederated together to give credit 
to miracles, said to be worked in behalf of their party; 
and those who believed them were strongly disposed to that 
belief. And yet, with these advantages, how easily were 
they suppressed ! Only by walling up that part of the 
church where the tomb of the saint, who was supposed to 
work them, was placed ! Soon after this was done, a paper 
was fixed on the wall with this inscription: 

De par le roy defense a Dieu 

De faire miracle en ce lieu. 

“ By command of the king, God is forbidden to work any 
more miracles here.” This pasquinade was a witty one, but 
the event turned the point of it against the party by which 
it was made: for if God had really worked any miracles 
there, could this absurd prohibition have taken effect? 
Would he have suffered his purpose to be defeated by 
building a wall? When all the apostles were shut up in 
prison to hinder their working of miracles, the angel of the 
Lord opened the prison doors, and let them out (Acts, 
5:16-26). But the power of Abbe Paris could neither 
throw down the wall that excluded his votaries, nor operate 
through that impediment. And yet his miracles are often 
compared with, and opposed by unbelievers to those of 
Christ and his apostles, which is the reason of my having 
taken this particular notice of them here. But to go back 
to the times nearer to St. Paul’s. 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


467 


There is in Lucian an account of a very extraordinary and 
successful imposture carried on in his days, by one Alexan¬ 
der of Pontus, who introduced a new god into that country, 
whose prophet he called himself, and in whose name he 
pretended to miracles, and delivered oracles, by which he 
acquired great wealth and power. All the arts by which 
this cheat was managed are laid open by Lucian, and noth¬ 
ing can better point out the difference between imposture 
and truth, than to observe the different conduct of 
this man and St. Paul. Alexander made no alteration in 
the religion established in Pontus before; he only grafted 
his own upon it; and spared no pains to interest in the 
success of it the whole heathen priesthood, not only in 
Pontus, but all over the world, sending great numbers of 
those who came to consult him to other oracles, that were 
at that time in the highest vogue; by which means he 
engaged them all to support the reputation of his, and 
abet his imposture. He spoke with the greatest respect of 
all the sects of philosophy, except the Epicureans, who 
from their principles he was sure would deride and oppose 
his fraud ; for though they presumed not to innovate, and 
overturn established religions, yet they very freely attacked 
and exposed all innovations that were introduced under the 
name of religion, and had not the authority of a legal 
establishment. To get the better of their opposition, as 
well as that of the Christians, he called in the aid of per¬ 
secution and force, exciting the people against them, and 
answering objections with stones. 

That he might be sure to get money enough he delivered 
this oracle in the name of his god: “ I command you to 


468 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


grace with gifts my prophet and minister ; for I have no 
regard for riches myself, but the greatest for my prophet.” 
And he shared the gains that he made, which were 
immense, among an infinite number of associates, and 
instruments, whom he employed in carrying on and sup¬ 
porting his fraud. When any declared themselves to be 
his enemies, against whom he durst not proceed by open 
force, he endeavored to gain them by blandishments; and 
having got them into his power, to destroy them by secret 
ways; which arts he practiced against Lucian himself. 
Others he kept in awe and dependence upon him, by detain¬ 
ing in his own hands the written questions they had pro¬ 
posed to his god upon state affairs; and as these generally 
came from men of the greatest power and rank, his being 
possessed of them was of infinite service to him, and made 
him master of all their credit, and of no little part of their 
wealth. 

He obtained the protection and friendship of Rutilianus, 
a great Roman general, by flattering him with promises of 
a very long life, and exaltation to deity after his death; 
and at last having quite turned his head, enjoined him by 
an oracle to marry his daughter, whom he pretended to 
have had by the moon : which command Rutilianus obeyed, 
and by his alliance secured this impostor from any danger 
of punishment; the Roman governor of Bithynia and Pon- 
tus excusing himself on that account from doing justice 
upon him, when Lucian and several others offered 
themselves to be his accusers. 

He never quitted that ignorant and barbarous country, 
which he had made choice of at first as the fittest place 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


469 


to play his tricks in undiscovered; but residing himself 
among those superstitious and credulous people, extended 
his fame to a great distance by the emissaries which he 
employed all over the world, especially at Rome, who did 
not pretend themselves to work any miracles, but only pro¬ 
mulgated his, and gave him intelligence of all that it was 
useful for him to know. 

These were the methods by which this remarkable fraud 
was conducted, every one of which is directly opposite to 
all those used by St. Paul in preaching the Gospel; and 
yet such methods alone could give success to a cheat of 
this kind. I will not mention the many debaucheries and 
wicked enormities committed by this false prophet, under 
the mask of religion, which is another characteristic differ¬ 
ence between him and St. Paul; nor the ambiguous 
answers, cunning evasions, and juggling artifices which he 
made use of, in all which it is easy to see the evident 
marks of an imposture, as well as in the objects he plainly 
appears to . have had in view. That which I chiefly insist 
upon is, the strong confederacy with which he took care to 
support his pretension to miraculous powers, and the apt 
disposition in those he imposed upon to concur and assist in 
deceiving themselves; advantages entirely wanting to the 
apostle of Christ. 

From all this it may be concluded, that no human means 
employed by St. Paul, in his design of converting the 
Gentiles, were, or could be adequate to the great diffi¬ 
culties he had to contend with, or to the success that we 
know attended his work; and we can in reason ascribe 
that success to no other cause but the power of God going 


470 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


along with, and aiding his ministry, because no other was 
equal to the effect. 

II. Paul not an Enthusiast. 

Having then shown that St. Paul had no rational motives 
to become an apostle of Christ, without being himself con¬ 
vinced of the truth of that Gospel he preached; and that, 
had he engaged in such an imposture, without any rational 
motives, he would have had no possible means to carry it 
on with any success: having also brought reasons of a 
very strong nature to make it appear that the success he 
undoubtedly had in preaching the Gospel, was an effect of 
the divine power attending his ministry, I might rest all 
my proof of the Christian religion, being a divine revela¬ 
tion, upon the arguments drawn from this head alone. 
But to consider this subject in all possible lights, I shall 
pursue the proposition which I set out with, through each 
of its several parts; and having proved, as I hope, to the 
conviction of any impartial man, that St. Paul was not an 
impostor, who said what he knew to be false, with an 
intent to deceive, I come next to consider whether he was 
an enthusiast , who, by the force of an overheated imagina¬ 
tion, imposed upon himself. 

Now, these are the ingredients of which enthusiasm is 
generally composed : great heat of temper , melancholy , 
ignorance , credulity , and vanity , or self-conceit. That 
the first of these qualities was in St. Paul, may be con¬ 
cluded from that fervor of zeal with which he acted, both 
as a Jew and Christian, in maintaining that which he 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


471 


thought to be right; and hence, I suppose, as well as from 
the impossibility of his having been an impostor, some 
unbelievers have chosen to consider him as an enthusiast. 
But this quality alone will not be sufficient to prove him to 
have been so in the opinion of any reasonable man. The 
same temper has been common to others, who undoubtedly 
were not enthusiasts: to the Gracchi, to Cato, to Brutus, 
to many more among the best and wisest of men. Nor 
does it appear that this disposition had such a mastery over 
the mind of St. Paul that he was not able, at all times, to 
rule and control it by the dictates of reason. On the con¬ 
trary, he was so much the master of it, as, in matters of an 
indifferent nature, to “ become all things to all men” 
(1 Cor. 9: 20-22) ; bending his notions and manners to 
theirs, so far as his duty to God would permit, with the 
most pliant condescension; a conduct neither compatible 
with the stiffness of a bigot, nor the violent impulses of 
fanatical delusions. His zeal was eager and warm, but 
tempered with prudence, and even w T ith the civilities and 
decorums of life, as appears by his behavior to Agrippa, 
Festus, and Felix; not the blind, inconsiderate, indecent 
zeal of an enthusiast. 

Let us now see if any one of those other qualities which I 
have laid down, as disposing the mind to enthusiasm, and 
as being characteristical of it, belongs to St. Paul. First, 
as to melancholy , which of all dispositions of body or mind, 
is most prone to enthusiasm; it neither appears by his 
writings, nor by anything told of him in the Acts of the 
Apostles, nor by any other evidence, that St. Paul was in¬ 
clined to it more than other men. Though he was full of 


472 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


remorse for his former ignorant persecution of the Church 
of Christ we read of no gloomy penances, no extravagant 
mortification, such as the Brahmins, the Jaugues, the monks 
of La Trappe, and other melancholy enthusiasts inflict on 
themselves. His holiness only consisted in the simplicity 
of a good life, and the unwearied performance of those 
apostolical duties to which he was called. The sufferings 
he met with on that account, he cheerfully bore, and even 
rejoiced in them for the love of Jesus Christ; but he brought 
none on himself; we find, on the contrary, that he pleaded 
the privilege of a Roman citizen to avoid being whipped. I 
could mention more instances of his having used the best 
methods that prudence could suggest, to escape danger, 
and shun persecution, whenever it could be done without 
betraying the duty of his office or the honor of God. 

A remarkable instance of this appears in his conduct 
among the Athenians. There was at Athens a law which 
made it a capital offense to introduce or teach any new gods 
in their State (Acts 17, and Josephus cont. Apion. 1. 2: 
c. 7). Therefore, when Paul was preaching Jesus and 
the resurrection to the Athenians, some of them carried 
him before the court of Areopagus (the ordinary judges 
of criminal matters, and in a particular manner intrusted 
with the care of religion), as having broken this law, and 
being “ a setter forth of strange gods.” Now, in this case, 
an impostor would have retracted his doctrine to save his 
life, and an enthusiast would have lost his life without trying 
to save it by innocent means. St. Paul did neither the one 
nor the other; he availed himself of an altar which he had 
found in the city, inscribed to “the unknown God,” and 











































































































































































THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


475 


pleaded that he did not propose to them the worship of any 
new God, but only explain to them one whom their govern¬ 
ment had already received * 6i whom therefore ye ignorantly 
worship, Him declare I unto you.” By this he avoided the 
law, and escaped being condemned by the Areopagus, with¬ 
out departing in the least from the truth of the Gospel, or 
violating the honor of God. An admirable proof, in my 
opinion, of the good sense with which he acted, and one 
that shows there was no mixture of fanaticism in his 
religion. 

Compare with this the conduct of Francis of Assisi, of 
Ignatius Loyola, and other enthusiasts sainted by Rome, it 
will be found the reverse of St. Paul’s. “ He wished in¬ 
deed to die and be with Christ;” butr such a wish is no 
proof of melancholy, or of enthusiasm; it only proves his 
conviction of the divine truths he preached, and of the hap¬ 
piness laid up for him in those blessed abodes which had 
been shown to him even in this life. Upon the whole, 
neither in his actions, nor in the instructions he gave to 
those under his charge, is there any tincture of melancholy ; 
which yet is so essential a characteristic of enthusiasm, that 
I have scarce ever heard of any enthusiast, ancient or mod¬ 
ern, in whom some very evident marks of it did not appear. 

As to ignorance , which is another ground of enthusiasm, 
St. Paul was so far from it, that he appears to have been 
master not of the Jewish learning alone, but of the Greek. 
And this is one reason why he is less liable to the imputation 
of having been an enthusiast than the other apostles, though 
none of them were such any more than he, as may by other 
arguments be invincibly proved. 


476 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


I have mentioned credulity as another characteristic and 
cause of enthusiasm, which, that it was not in St. Paul, the 
history of his life undeniably shows. For on the contrary, 
he seems to have been slow and hard of belief in the ex- 
tremest degree, having paid no regard to all the miracles 
done by our Savior, the fame of which he could not be a 
stranger to, as he lived in Jerusalem, nor to that signal one 
done after His resurrection, and in His name by Peter and 
John, upon the lame man, at the beautiful gate of the 
temple; nor to the evidence given in consequence of it by 
Peter, in presence of the high-priest, the rulers, elders, and 
scribes, that Christ was raised from the dead (Acts, 3). 
He must also have known that when all the apostles had 
heen shut up in the*common prison , and the high-priest , the 
council , and all the senate of the children of Israel had 
sent their officers to bring them before them , the officers 
came and found them not in prison , but returned and 
made this report: “ The prison truly found we shut 
with all safety, and the keepers standing without before 
the doors, but when we had opened we found no man 
within.” And that the council was immediately told, that 
the men they had put in prison were standing in the temple , 
and teaching the people . And that being brought from, 
thence before the council they had spoken these memorable 
words: “ We ought to obey God rather than men. The 
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and 
hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right 
hand to he a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to 
Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses 
of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


477 


has given to them that obey Him.” (Acts, 5: 18-32.) All 
this he resisted, and was consenting to the murder of 
Stephen, who preached the same thing, and evinced it by 
miracles (Acts, 8:1). So that his mind, far from being 
disposed to a credulous faith, or a too easy reception of any 
miracle worked in proof of the Christian religion, appears 
to have been barred against it by the most obstinate preju¬ 
dices, as much as any man’s could possibly be; and from 
hence we may fairly conclude, that nothing less than the 
irresistible evidence of his own senses , clear from all possi¬ 
bility of doubt, could have overcome his unbelief. 

Vanity or self-conceit is another circumstance that, for 
the most part, prevails in the character of an enthusiast. 
It leads men of a warm temper, and religious turn, to think 
themselves worthy of the special regard and extraordinary 
favors of God; and the breath of that inspiration to which 
they pretend is often no more than the wind of this vanity, 
which puffs them up to such extravagant imaginations. 
This strongly appears in the writings and lives of some 
enthusiastical heretics; in the mystics, both ancient and 
modern; in many founders of orders and saints, both male 
and female, amongst the Papists, in several Protestant sec¬ 
taries of the last age, and even in some at the present time.* 
All the divine communications, illuminations, and ecstasies 
to which they have pretended, evidently sprung from much 
self-conceit, working together with the vapors of melan- 


* See the account of Montanus and his followers, the writings of the counterfeit 
Dionysius the Areopagite, Santa Theresa, St. Catherine of Sienna, Madam Bourig- 
non, the lives of St. Francis of Assisi, and Ignatius Loyola; see also an account of 
the lives of George Fox, and of Rice Evans. 



478 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


choly upon a warm imagination. And this is one reason, 
besides the contagious nature of melancholy, or fear, that 
makes enthusiasm so very catching among weak minds. 
Such are most strongly disposed to vanity; and when they 
see others pretend to extraordinary gifts, are apt to flatter 
themselves that they may partake of them as well as those 
whose merit they think no more than their own. Vanity, 
therefore, may justly be deemed a principal source of en¬ 
thusiasm. But that St. Paul was as free from it as any 
man, I think may be gathered from all that we see in his 
writings, or know of his life. Throughout his epistles there 
is not one word that savors of vanity; nor is any action 
recorded of him in which the least mark of it appears. 

In his epistle to the Ephesians, he calls himself “ less than 
the least of all saints ” (Ephes. 3:8). And to the Corinth¬ 
ians he says, he is the least of the apostles and not meet to 
be called an apostle, because he had “persecuted the Church 
of God ” (1 Cor. 15 : 9). In his epistle to Timothy he says: 
“ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of 
whom 1 am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, 
that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suf¬ 
fering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe 
in Him to life everlasting.” (1 Tim. 1: 15, 16.) 

It is true, indeed, that in another epistle he tells the Cor¬ 
inthians that he was “ not a whit behind the very chiefest of 
the apostles ” (2 Cor. 11: 5). But the occasion which drew 
from him these words must be considered. A false teacher 
by faction and calumny had brought his apostleship to be 
in question among the Corinthians. Against such an 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


479 


attack, not to have asserted his apostolical dignity, would 
have been a betraying of the office and duty committed to 
him by God. He was therefore constrained to do himself 
justice, and not let down that character, upon the authority of 
which the whole success and efficacy of his ministry among 
them depended. But how did he do itV Not with that 
wanton ness which a vain man indulges, when he can get 
any opportunity of commending himself; not with a pomp¬ 
ous detail of all the amazing miracles which he had per¬ 
formed in different parts of the world, though he had so fair 
an occasion of doing it; but with a modest and simple expo¬ 
sition of his abundant labors and sufferings in preaching the 
Gospel, and barely reminding them, “ that the signs of an 
apostle had been wrought among them in all patience in 
signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.” (2 Cor. 12: 12.) 
Could he say less than this? Is not such boasting humility 
itself . And yet for this he makes many apologies, express¬ 
ing the greatest uneasiness in being obliged to speak thus 
of himself, even in his own vindication (2 Cor. 11: 1-16; 
19-30), When in the same epistle, and for the same pur¬ 
pose, he mentions the vision he had of heaven, how modestly 
does he do it! Not in his own name, but in the third per¬ 
son, “ I knew a man in Christ, etc., caught up into the third 
heaven” (2 Cor. 12: 2). And immediately after he adds, 
“ but now I forbear, less any man should think of me above 
that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me ” (2 
Cor. 12: 6). How contrary is this to a spirit of vanity! 
how different from the practice of enthusiastic pretenders 
to raptures and visions, who never think they can dwell 
long enough upon those subjects, but fill whole volumes 


480 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


with their accounts of them! Yet St. Paul is not satisfied 
with this forbearance; he adds the confession of some in¬ 
firmity , which he tells the Corinthians was given to him as 
an allay, that he might not be above measure exalted , through 
the abundance of his revelations (2 Cor. 12: 7). I would 
also observe, that he says this rapture, or vision of paradise, 
happened to him above fourteen years before. Now, had 
it been the effect of a mere enthusiastical fancy, can it be 
supposed that in so long a period of time he would not have 
had many more raptures of the same kind? would not his 
imagination have been perpetually carrying him to heaven, 
as we find St. Theresa, St. Bridget, and St. Catherine were 
carried by theirs? And if vanity had been predominant in 
him, would he have remained fourteen years in absolute 
silence upon so great a mark of the divine favor? No, we 
should certainly have seen his epistles filled with nothing 
else but long accounts of the visions, conferences with 
angels, with Christ, with God Almighty, mystical unions 
with God, and all that we read in the works of those sainted 
enthusiasts, whom I have mentioned before. But he only 
mentions this vision in answer to the false teacher who had 
disputed his apostolical power, and comprehends it all in 
three sentences, with many excuses for being compelled to 
make any mention of it at all (2 Cor. 12: 1-11). Nor 
does he take any merit to himself, even from the success of 
those apostolical labors which he principally boasts of in his 
epistle. For in a former one to the same church he writes 
thus : “ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers 
by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 
I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 



h)uwi»>-4 


Sfejiiffl 

gtrji.n'*' 


PETER STRICKEN WITH REMORSE 


( 481 ) 








































































































































































































































































































































THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


483 


&o then, neither is he that planteth any thing , neither he 
that watereth, bnt God that giveth the increase.” And in 
another place of the same epistle he says, “ by the grace of 
God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed 
ll P°n me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly 
than they all: yet not I hut the grace of God which was 
with me .” (1 Cor. 15: 10.) 

I think it needless to give more instances of the modesty 
of St. Paul. Certain I am, not one can be given that bears 
any color of vanity, or that vanity in particular which so 
strongly appears in all enthusiasts, of setting their imagi¬ 
nary gifts above those virtues which make the essence of 
true religion, and the real excellency of a good man, or in 
the Scripture phrase, of a saint. In his first epistle to the 
Corinthian she has these words: “ Though I speak with the 
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am 
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And 
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all 
mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so 
that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am 
nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have 
not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13: 2-4.) Is 
this the language of enthusiasm? Did ever enthusiast pre¬ 
fer that universal benevolence which comprehends all moral 
virtues, and which (as appears by the following verses) is 
meant by charity here; did ever enthusiast, I say, prefer 
that benevolence to faith and to miracles, to those religious 
opinions which he had embraced, and to those supernatural 
graces and gifts which he imagined he had acquired, nay 


484 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


even to the merit of martyrdom? Is it not the genius of 
enthusiasm to set moral virtues infinitely below the merit of 
faith; and of all moral virtues, to value that least which is 
most particularly enforced by St. Paul, a spirit of candor, 
moderation and peace? Certainly neither the temper, nor 
the opinions of a man subject to fanatical delusions, are to 
be found in this passage; but it may be justly concluded, 
that he who could justly esteem the value of charity so 
much above miraculous gifts, could not have pretended to 
any such gifts if he had them not in reality. 

Since, then, it is manifest from the foregoing examina¬ 
tion, that in St. Paul’s disposition and character those qual¬ 
ities do not occur which seem to be necessary to form an 
enthusiast, it must be reasonable to conclude he was none. 
But allowing, for argument’s sake, that all those qualities 
were to be found in him, or that the heat of his temper alone 
could be a sufficient foundation to support such a suspicion ; 
I shall endeavor to prove that he could not have imposed 
on himsele by any power of enthusiasm, either in regard 
to the miracle that caused his conversion, or to the conse¬ 
quential effects of it, or to some other circumstances which 
he bears testimony to in his epistles. 

The power of imagination in enthusiastical minds is no 
doubt very strong, but it always acts in conformity to the 
opinions imprinted upon it at the time of its workings; and 
can no more act against them, than a rapid river can carry 
a boat against the current of its own stream. Now, noth¬ 
ing can be more certain than that when Saul set out for 
Damascus, with an authority.from the chief priests “ to bring 
the Christians which were there, bound to Jerusalem ’’ 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


485 


(Acts, 12 : 2), an authority solicited by himself, and granted 
to him at his own earnest desire, his mind was strongly 
possessed with opinions against Christ and His followers. 
To give those opinions a more active force, his passions at 
that time concurred, being inflamed in the highest degree 
by the irritating consciousness of his past conduct towards 
them, the pride of supporting a part he had voluntarily 
engaged in, and the credit he found it procured him among 
the chief priests and rulers, whose commission he bore. 

If in such a state and temper of mind, an enthusiastical 
man had imagined he saw a vision from heaven denouncing 
the anger of God against the Christians, and commanding 
him to persecute them without any mercy, it might be ac¬ 
counted for by the natural power of enthusiasm. But that, 
in the very instant of his being engaged in the fiercest and 
hottest persecution against them, no circumstance having 
happened to change his opinions, or alter the bent of his 
disposition, he should at once imagine himself called by a 
heavenly vision to be the apostle of Christ, whom but a 
moment before he deemed an impostor and a blasphemer, 
that had been justly put to death on the cross, is in itself 
wholly incredible, and so far from being a probable effect 
of enthusiasm, that just a contrary effect must have been 
naturally produced by that cause. The warmth of his tem¬ 
per carried him violently another way; and whatever delu¬ 
sions his imagination could raise to impose on his reason, 
must have been raised at that time agreeable to the notions 
imprinted upon it, and by which it was heated to a degree 
of enthusiasm, not in direct contradiction to all those 
notions, while they remained in their full force. 


486 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. TAUL. 


This is so clear a proposition, that I might rest the whole 
argument entirely upon it; but still farther to show that 
this vision could not be a phantom of St. Paul’s own creat¬ 
ing, I beg leave to observe, that he was not alone when he 
saw it; there were many others in company , whose minds 
were no better disposed than his to the Christian faith. 
Could it be possible, that the imaginations of all these men 
should at the same time be so strangely affected as to make 
them believe that they saw a “ great light shining about them, 
above the brightness of the sun at noonday,” and heard the 
sound of a voice from heaven , though “ not the words which 
it spake ” (Acts, 9 : 3 ; 22 : 9), when in reality they neither 
saw nor heard any such thing? Could they be so infatuated 
with this conceit of their fancy, as to fall down together 
with Saul, and be speechless through fear (Acts, 26: 14; 
9:7), when nothing had happened extraordinary either to 
them or to him? Especially considering that this appari¬ 
tion did not happen in the night, when the senses are more 
easily imposed upon, but at midday. If a sudden frenzy 
had seized upon Saul, from any distemper of body or mind, 
can we suppose his whole company, men of different consti¬ 
tutions and understandings, to have been at once affected 
in the same manner with him, so that not the distemper 
alone, but the effects of it should exactly agree? If all had 
gone mad together, would not the frenzy of some have 
taken a different turn, and presented to them different 
objects? This supposition is so contrary to nature and all 
possibility, that unbelief must find some other solution, or 
give up the point. 

I shall suppose then, in order to try to account for this 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


487 


vision without a miracle, that as Saul and his company were 
journeying along in their way to Damascus an extraordinary 
meteor did really happen, which cast a great light, as some 
meteors will do, at which they, being affrighted, fell to the 
ground in the manner related. This might be possible ; and 
fear, grounded on ignorance of such phenomena, might 
make them imagine it to be a vision of God. Nay, even 
the voice or sound they heard in the air, might be an ex¬ 
plosion attending this meteor; or at least there are those 
who would rather recur to such a supposition as this, how¬ 
ever incredible, than acknowledge the miracle. But how 
will this account for the distinct words heard by St. Paul, 
to which he made answer? How will it account for what 
followed upon it when he came to Damascus, agreeably to 
the sense of those words which he heard? How came 
Ananias to go to him there and say: “ He was chosen by 
God to know His will, and see that just One, and hear the 
voice of His mouth? ” (Acts, 22:14; 26: 16.) Or why 
did he propose to him to be baptized? What connection 
was there between the meteor which Saul had seen, and 
these words of Ananias? Will it be said that Ananias was 
skillful enough to take advantage of the fright he was in at 
that appearance, in order to make him a Christian ! But 
could Ananias inspire him with the vision in which he saw 
him before he came? If that vision was the effect of 
imagination, how was it verified so exactly in fact? (Acts, 
9.) But allowing that he dreamt by chance of Ananias’ 
coming, and that Ananias came by chance too; or, if you 
please, that having heard of his dream, he came to take 
advantage of that as well as of the meteor which Saul had 


488 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


seen; will this get over the difficulty? No, there was 
more to be done. Saul was struck blind, and had been so 
for three days. Now, had this blindness been natural from 
the effects of a meteor or lightning upon him, it would not 
have been possible for Ananias to heal it, as we find that 
lie did, merely by putting his hands on him and speaking a 
few words. (Acts, 9 : 17, 18 ; 22 : 13). This undoubtedly 
surpassed the power of nature; and if this was a miracle, 
it proves the other to have been a miracle too, and a 
miracle done by the same Jesus Christ. For Ananias, 
when he healed Saul, spoke to him thus: “Brother Saul, 
the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way 
as thou earnest, has sent me, that thou mightest receive 
thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (Acts, 
9:17.) And that he saw Christ both now and after this 
time, appears not only hy what he relates (Acts, 22: 17, 
18), but by other passages in his epistles (1 Cor. 9:1; 
15:8). From him, as he asserts in many places of his 
epistles, he learned the Gospel by immediate revelation, 
and by him he was sent to the Gentiles (Acts, 22:21; 
22:11). Among those Gentiles “from Jerusalem, and 
round about to Illiricum, he preached the Gospel of Christ, 
with mighty signs and wonders, wrought by the power of 
the Spirit of God, to make them obedient to his preach¬ 
ing,” as he himself testifies in his epistle to the Homans 
(Bom. 15: 19) ; and of which a particular account is given 
to us in the Acts of the Apostles; signs and wonders, 
indeed, above any power of nature to work, or of imposture 
to counterfeit, or of enthusiasm to imagine. Now, does 
not such a series of miraculous acts, all consequential and 



ST. PAUL IS SHIPWRECKED 


(489) 







































































































































































































THE CONVERSION OF'ST. PAUL. 


491 


dependent upon the first revelation, put the truth of that 
revelation beyond all possibility of doubt or deceit? And 
if he could so have imposed on himself as to think that he 
worked them when he did not (which supposition cannot 
be admitted, if he was not at that time quite out of his 
senses), how could so distempered an enthusiast make such 
a progress, as we know that he did, in converting the Gen¬ 
tile world? If the difficulties which have been shown to 
have obstructed that work, were such as the ablest impostor 
could not overcome, how much more insurmountable were 
they to a madman? 

It is a much harder task for unbelievers to account for 
the success of St. Paul, in preaching the Gospel upon the 
supposition of his having been an enthusiast, than of his 
having been an impostor. Neither of these suppositions 
can ever account for it; but the impossibility is more 
glaringly strong in this case than the other. I could enter 
into a particular examination of all the miracles recorded in 
the Acts to have been done by St. Paul, and show that 
they were not of a nature in which enthusiasm, either in 
him, or the persons he worked them upon, or the specta¬ 
tors, could have any part. I will mention only a few. 
When he told Elymas the sorcerer, at Paphos, before the 
Koman deputy, that “ the hand of God was upon him, and 
he should be blind, not seeing the sun for a season; and 
immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and 
he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand” 
(Acts, 13), had enthusiasm in the doer or sufferer any 
share in this act? If Paul, as an enthusiast, had thrown 
out this menace, and the effect had not followed, instead of 


492 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


converting the deputy, as we are told that he did, he would 
have drawn on himself his rage and contempt. But. the 
effect upon Elymas could not be caused by enthusiasm in 
Paul, much less can it be imputed to an enthusiastic belief 
in that person hinself, of his being struck blind, when he 
was not, by these words of a man whose preaching he 
strenuously and bitterly opposed. Nor can we ascribe the 
conversion of Sergius, which happened upon it, to any 
enthusiasm. A Eoman proconsul was not very likely to be 
an enthusiast ; but, had he been one, he must have been 
bigoted to his own gods, and so much the less inclined to 
believe any miraculous power in St. Paul. When, at 
Troas, a young man named Eutychus, fell down from a 
high window, while Paul was preaching, and was taken up 
dead (Acts, 20:9), could any enthusiasm, either in Paul 
or the congregation there present, make them believe, that 
by that apostle’s falling upon him, and embracing him, he 
was restored to life? Or could he who was so restored 
contribute anything to himself, by any power of his own 
imagination? When, in the isle of Melita, where St. Paul 
was shipwrecked, there came a viper and fastened on his 
hand, which he shook off, and felt no harm (Acts, 28), 
was that an effect of enthusiasm? An enthusiast might 
perhaps have been mad enough to hope for safety against 
the bite of a viper without any remedy being applied to it; 
but would that hope have prevented his death? Or were 
the barbarous islanders, to whom this apostle was an 
absolute stranger, prepared by enthusiasm to expect and 
believe that any miracle would be worked to preserve him? 
On the contrary, when they saw the viper hang to his 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL 


493 


hand, they said among themselves: “ No doubt this man is 
a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet 
vengeance suffereth not to live.” I will add no more 
instances: these are sufficient to show that the miracles 
told of St. Paul can no more be ascribed to enthusiasm 
than to imposture. 

But moreover, the power of working miracles was not 
confined to St. Paul; it was also communicated to the 
churches he planted in different parts of the world. In 
many parts of his first epistle, he tells the'Corinthians (1 
Cor. 12 : 4, 5), that they had among them many miraculous 
graces and gifts, and gives them directions for the more 
orderly use of them in their assemblies. Now, I ask, 
whether all that he said upon that head is to be ascribed to 
enthusiasm? If the Corinthians knew that they had 
among them no such miraculous powers, they must have 
regarded the author of that epistle as a man out of his 
senses, instead of revering him as an apostle of God. 

If, for instance, a Quaker should, in a meeting of his 
own sect, tell all the persons assembled there, that to some 
among them was given the gift of healing by the Spirit of 
God, to others the working of other miracles, to others 
divers kinds of tongues; they would undoubtedly account 
him a madman, because they pretend to no such gifts. If 
indeed they were only told by him that they were inspired 
by the Spirit of God in a certain ineffable manner, which 
they alone could understand, but which did not discover 
itself by any outward distinct operations or signs, they 
might mistake the impulse of enthusiasm for the inspir¬ 
ation of the Holy Ghost; but they could not believe, 


494 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


against the conviction of their own minds that they spoke 
tongues they did not speak, or healed distempers they did 
not heal, or worked other miracles when they worked none. 
If it be said the Corinthians might pretend to these powers, 
though the Quakers do not, I ask whether, in that preten¬ 
sion, they were impostors, or only enthusiasts? If they 
were impostors, and St. Paul was also such, how ridicu¬ 
lous was it for him to advise them, in an epistle writ only 
to them , and/or their own use , not to value themselves too 
highly upon those gifts, to pray for one rather than 
another, and prefer charity to them all! Do associates in 
fraud talk such a language to one another? But if we 
suppose their pretension to all those gifts was an effect of 
enthusiasm, let us consider how it was possible that he and 
they could be so cheated by that enthusiasm, as to imagine 
they had such powers when they had not. 

Suppose that enthusiasm could make a man think that 
he was able, by a word or a touch, to give sight to the 
blind, motion to the lame, or life to the dead: would that 
conceit of his make the blind see, the lame walk or the 
dead revive? And if it did not, how could he persist in 
such an opinion ; or, upon his persisting, escape being shut 
up for a madman? But such a madness could not infect 
so many at once, as St. Paul supposes at Corinth to have 
been endowed with the gift of healing or any other mirac¬ 
ulous powers. One of the miracles which they pretended 
to was the speaking of languages they never had learned ; 
and St. Paul says, he possessed this gift “ more than they 
all.” (1 Cor. 14 : 18.) If this had been a delusion of fancy, 
if they had spoken only gibberish or unmeaning sounds, it 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


495 


would soon have appeared, when they came to make use 
of it where it was necessary, viz., in the converting of 
those who understood not any language they naturally 
spoke. St. Paul particularly, who traveled so far upon 
that design, and had such occasion to use it, must soon 
have discovered that this imaginary gift of the spirit was 



PAUL AND THE VIPER. 


no gift at all, but a ridiculous instance of frenzy, which 
had possessed both him and them. But, if those he spoke 
to in divers tongues understood what he said, and were 
converted to Christ by that means, how could it be a delu¬ 
sion? Of all the miracles recorded in Scripture, none are 
more clear from any possible imputation of being the effect 



















496 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


of an enthusiastic imagination than this: for how could 
any man think that he had it, who had it not: or, if he did 
think so, not be undeceived when he came to put his gift 
to the proof? 

If St. Paul and the church of Corinth were not deceived, 
in ascribing to themselves this miraculous power, but really 
had it, there is the strongest reason to think that neither 
were they deceived in other powers to which they pre¬ 
tended, as the same Spirit which gave them that equally, 
could and probably would give them the others to serve the 
same holy ends for which that was given. And, by con¬ 
sequence, St. Paul was no enthusiast in what he wrote 
upon that head of the Corinthians, nor in other similar in¬ 
stances where he ascribes to himself, or to the churches he 
founded, any supernatural graces and gifts. Indeed, they 
who would impute to imagination effects such as those 
Avhich St. Paul imputes to the power of God attending his 
mission, must ascribe to imagination the same omnipotence 
which he ascribes to God. 

III. Paul not Deceived by the Fraud of Others. 

Having thus, I flatter myself, satisfactorily shown that 
St. Paul could not be an enthusiast, who, by the force of 
an overheated imagination, imposed on himself, I am next 
to inquire whether he was deceived by the fraud of others, 
and whether all that he said of himself can be imputed to 
the power of that deceit? But I need say little to show 
the absurdity of this supposition. It was morally impossi¬ 
ble for the disciples of Christ to conceive such a thought, 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


497 


as that of turning His persecutor into His apostle, and to 
do this by a fraud, in the very instant of his greatest fury 
against them and their Lord. But could they have been 
so extravagant as to conceive such a thought, it was physi¬ 
cally impossible for them to execute it in the manner we 
find his conversion to have been effected. Could they 
produce a light in the air, which at mid-day was brighter 
than that of the sun? Could they make Saul hear words 
from out of that light (Acts, 22:9), which were not heard 
by the rest of the company? Could they make him blind 
for three days after that vision, and then make scales fall 
from off his eyes, and restore him to his sight by a word? 
Beyond dispute, no fraud could do these things; but much 
less still could the fraud of others produce those miracles, 
subsequent to his conversion, in which he was not passive, 
but active ; which he did himself, and appeals to in his 
epistles as proofs of his Divine mission. 

Conclusion. 

I shall then take it for granted, that he was not deceived 
by the fraud of others, and that what he said of himself 
can no more be imputed to the power of that deceit than to 
willful imposture, or to enthusiasm : and then it follows, 
that what he related to have been the cause of his conver¬ 
sion, and to have happened in consequence of it, did all 
really happen; and therefore the Christian religion is a 
divine revelation . 

That this conclusion is fairly and undeniably drawn from 
the premises, I think must be owned, unless some probable 


498 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


cause can be assigned to account for those facts so authen¬ 
tically related in the Acts of the Apostles, and attested in 
his epistles by St. Paul himself, other than any of those 
which I have considered • and this I am confident cannot be 
done. It must be therefore accounted for by the power of 
God. That God should work miracles for the establish¬ 
ment of a most holy religion, which from the insuperable 
difficulties that stood in the way of it, could not have estab¬ 
lished itself without such assistance, is no way repugnant 
to human reason : but that without any miracle such things 
should have happened, as no adequate natural causes can 
be assigned for, is what human reason cannot believe. 

To impute them to magic, or the power of demons 
(which was the resource of the heathens and Jews against 
the notoriety of the miracles performed by Christ and His 
disciples), is by no means agreeable to the notions of those 
who, in this age, disbelieve Christianity. It will therefore 
be needless to show the weakness of that supposition : but 
that supposition itself is no considerable argument of the 
truth of the facts. Next to the apostles and evangelists, 
the strongest witnesses of the undeniable force of that truth 
are Celsus and Julian, and other ancient opponents of the 
Christian religion, who were obliged to solve what they 
could not contradict, by such an irrational and absurd 
imagination. 

The dispute was not then between faith and reason, but 
between religion and superstition. Superstition ascribed to 
cabalistical names, or magical secrets, such operations as 
carried along with them evident marks of the divine power: 
religion ascribed them to God, and reason declared itself 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


499 


oil that side of the question. Upon what grounds then can 
we now overturn the decision? Upon what grounds can we 
reject the unquestionable testimony given by St. Paul; that 
he was called by God to be a disciple and apostle of Christ? 
It has been shown, that we cannot impute it either to en¬ 
thusiasm or fraud : how shall we then resist the conviction 
of such a proof? Does the doctrine he preached contain 
any precepts against the law of morality, that natural law 
written by God in the hearts of mankind? If it did, I con¬ 
fess that none of the arguments I have made use of could 
prove such a doctrine to come from him . But this is so far 
from being the case, that even those who reject Christianity 
as a divine revelation, acknowledge the morals delivered 
by Christ and by his apostles to be worthy of God. Is it 
then on account of the mysteries in the Gospel that the 
facts are denied, though supported by evidence which in all 
other cases would be allowed to contain the clearest convic¬ 
tion, and cannot in this be rejected without reducing the 
mind to a state of absolute skepticism, and overturning 
those rules by which we judge of all evidence, and of the 
truth or credibility of all other facts? But this is plainly 
to give up the use of our understanding where we are able 
to use it most properly, in order to apply it to things of 
which it is not a competent judge. The motives and rea¬ 
sons upon which divine wisdom may think proper to act, 
as well as the manner in which it acts, must often lie out 
of the reach of our understanding; but the motives and 
reasons of human actions, and the manner in which they 
are performed, are all in the sphere of human knowledge, 

and upon them we may judge, with a well-grounded 

28 


500 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


confidence, when they are fairly proposed to onr considera¬ 
tion. 

It is incomparably more probable that a revelation from 
God, concerning* the ways of His providence, should con¬ 
tain in it matters above the capacity of our minds to com¬ 
prehend, than that St. Paul, or indeed any of the other 
apostles, should have acted, as we know that they did, 
upon any other foundations than certain knowledge of 
Christ’s being risen from the dead; or should have suc¬ 
ceeded in the work they undertook, without the aid of 
miraculous powers. To the former of these propositions 
I may give my assent without any direct opposition of 
reason to my faith; but in admitting the latter, I must 
believe against all those probabilities that are the rational 
grounds of assent. 

Nor do they who reject the Christian religion because of 
the difficulties which occur in its mysteries, consider how 
far that objection will go against other systems, both of 
religion and of philosophy, which they themselves profess 
to admit. There are in deism itself, the most simple of 
all religious opinions, several difficulties, for which human 
reason can but ill account; which may therefore be not 
improperly styled articles of faith. Such is the origin of 
evil under the government of an all-good and all-powerful 
God; a question so hard, that the inability of solving it in 
a satisfactory manner to their apprehensions, has driven 
some of the greatest philosophers into the monstrous and 
senseless opinions of maniclieism and atheism. Such is 
the reconciling the prescience of God with the free-will of 
man, which after much thought on the subject, Mr. Locke 



PAUL LET DOWN IN A BASKET TO ESCAPE HIS ENEMIES 


(501) 






























































































































































































































































































































































’ 





































































































































THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


503 


fairly confesses he could not do,* though he acknowledged 
both ; and what Mr. Locke could not do, in reasoning 
upon subjects of a metaphysical nature, I am apt to think 
few men, if any, can hope to perform. 

Such is also the creation of the world at any supposed 
time, or the eternal production of it from God; it being 
almost equally hard, according to mere philosophical 
notions, either to admit that the goodness of God could 
remain unexerted through all eternity before the time of 
such a creation, let it be set back ever so far, or to con¬ 
ceive an eternal production, which words so applied, are 
inconsistent and contradictory terms; the solution com¬ 
monly given by a comparison to the emanation of light 
from the sun not being adequate to it, or just; for light is 
a quality inherent in fire, emanating from it; whereas mat¬ 
ter is not a quality inherent in or emanating from the 
Divine essence, but of a different substance and nature; 
and if not independent and self-existing, must have been 
created by a mere act of the Divine will; and, if created, 
then not eternal, the idea of creation implying a time when 
the substance created did not exist . But if to get rid of 
this difficulty, we have recourse, as many of the ancient 
philosophers had, to the independent existence of matter , 
then we must admit two self-existing principles , which is 
quite inconsistent with genuine theism or natural reason. 
Nay, could that be admitted, it would not clear up the 
doubt, unless we suppose not only the eternal existence of 
matter, independent of God, but that it was from eternity 


* See his letter to Mr. Molyneux, p. 509, vol. 3. 



504 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


in the order and beauty we see it in now, without any 
agency of the Divine power; otherwise the same difficulty 
will always occur, why it was not before put into that order 
and state of perfection; or how the goodness of God could 
so long remain in a state of inaction, unexerted and unem¬ 
ployed, For were the time of such an exertion of it put 
back ever so far, if, instead of five or six thousand years, 
we were to suppose millions of millions of ages to have 
passed since the world* was reduced out of a chaos to an 
harmonious and regular form, still a whole eternity must 
have preceded that date, during which the Divine attributes 
did not exert themselves in that beneficent work, so suit¬ 
able to them, that the conjectures of human reason can 
find no cause for its being delayed. 

But because of these difficulties or any other that may 
occur in the system of deism, no wise man will deny the 
being of God, or His infinite wisdom, goodness and power, 
which are proved by such evidence as carries the clearest 
and strongest conviction and cannot be refused without 
involving the mind in far greater difficulties, even in down¬ 
right absurdities and impossibilities. The only part, there¬ 
fore, that can be taken, is to account in the best manner 
that our weak reason is able to do, for such seeming 
objections; and where that fails, to acknowledge its weak¬ 
ness, and acquiesce under the certainty that our very im¬ 
perfect knowledge or judgment cannot be the measure of 

* By the world I do not mean this earth alone, but the whole material universe, 
with all its inhabitants. Even created spirits fall under the same reasoning; for 
they must also have had a beginning, and before that beginning an eternity must 
have preceded. 



THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


505 


the Divine wisdom or the universal standard of truth. So 
likewise it is with respect to the Christian religion. Some 
difficulties occur in that revelation which human reason can 
hardly clear: but as the truth of it stands upon evidence 
so strong and convincing that it cannot be denied without 
much greater difficulties than those that attend the belief 
of it, as I have before endeavored to prove, we ought not 
to reject it upon such objections, however mortifying they 
may be to our pride. That indeed would have all things 
made plain to us, but God has thought proper to proportion 
our knowledge to our wants, not our pride. All that 
concerns our duty is clear; and as to other points, either 
of natural or revealed religion, if He has left some obscuri¬ 
ties in them, is that any reasonable cause of complaint? 
Not to rejoice in the benefit of what He has graciously 
allowed us to know, from a presumptuous disgust at our 
incapacity of knowing more, is as absurd as it would be to 
refuse to walk because we cannot fly. 

From the arrogant ignorance of metaphysical reasonings 
aiming at matters above our knowledge, arose all the 
speculative impiety, and many of the worst superstitions of 
the old heathen world before the Gospel was preached to 
bring men back again to the primitive faith; and from the 
same source have since flowed some of the greatest corrup¬ 
tions of the evangelical truth, and the most inveterate prej¬ 
udices against it; an effect just as natural as for our eyes 
to grow weak, and even blind, by being strained to look at 
objects too distant, or not made for them to see. 

Are then our intellectual faculties of no use in religion? 
Yes, undoubtedly, of the most necessary use when rightly 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


506 

employed. The proper employment of them is to distin¬ 
guish its genuine doctrines from others erroneously or cor¬ 
ruptly ascribed to it; to consider the importance and 
purport of them, with the connection they bear to one an¬ 
other; but, first of all, to examine, with the strictest 
attention, the evidence by which religion is proved, internal 
as well as external. If the external evidence be convinc¬ 
ingly strong, and there is no internal proof of its falsehood, 
but much to support and confirm its truth, then surely no 
difficulties ought to prevent our giving a full assent and 
belief to it. It is our duty, indeed, to endeavor to find the 
best solutions we can to them; but where no satisfactory 
ones are to be found, it is no less our duty to acquiesce 
with humility, and believe that to be right which we know r 
is above us, and belonging to a wisdom superior to ours. 

'Nor let it be said that this will be an argument for 
admitting all doctrines, however absurd, that may have 
been grafted upon the Christian faith; those which can 
plainly be proved not to belong to it , fall not under the 
reasoning I have laid down (and certainly none do belong 
to it which contradict either our clear , intuitive knowledge , 
or the evident principles and dictates of reason ). I speak 
only of difficulties which attend the belief of the Gospel in 
some of its pure and essential doctrines, plainly and evi¬ 
dently delivered there, which being made known to us by 
a revelation supported by proofs that our reason ought to 
admit , and not being such things as it can certainly know 
to be false , must be received by it as objects of faith, 
though they are such as it could not have discovered by 
any natural means, and such as are difficult to be con- 


THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 


507 


ceived, or satisfactorily explained by its limited powers. If 
the glorious light of the Gospel be sometimes overcast with 
clouds of doubt, so is the light of our reason too. But 
shall we deprive ourselves of the advantages of either , 
because those clouds cannot, perhaps, be entirely removed 
while we remain in this mortal life? Shall we obstinately 
and frowardly shut our eyes against that day-spring from 
on high that has visited us , because we are not, as yet, able 
to bear the full blaze of Ilis beams? Indeed, not even in 
heaven itself, not in the highest state of perfection to which 
a finite being can ever attain, will all the counsels of Prov¬ 
idence, all the height and the depth of the infinite wisdom 
of God, be ever disclosed or understood. Faith even then 
will be necessary, and there will be mysteries which. cannot 
be penetrated by the most exalted archangel, and truths 
which cannot be known by him otherwise than from revela¬ 
tion, or believed upon any other ground of assent than a 
submissive confidence in the Divine wisdom . What then, 
shall man presume that his weak and narrow understanding 
is sufficient to guide him into all truth , without any need 
of revelation of faith? Shall he complain that the ways of 
God are not like his ways , and past his finding out? True 
philosophy, as well as true Christianity, would teach us a 
wiser and modester part. It would teach us to be con¬ 
tent within those bounds which God has assigned to us, 
“ casting down imaginations, and every high thing that 
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing 
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” 
(2 Cor. 10: 5). 















































































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